Delusional
by ScottyBgood
Summary: It's the start of the senior year, and Tori is anxious to see everyone. Mostly, she wants things to get back to normal, what with Beck and Jade broken up. Then there are the rumors. All Tori's heard about Jade all summer are rumors. So, Tori wants to see for herself what has happened to her friend. If Jade has survived the bad times, Tori would be interested in knowing how.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious or any of it's characters, Schneider's bakery and Nickelodeon do. I just borrow them from time to time. Seems, fair, as the owners aren't really using them any more.

Warning, this story gets a touch odd. Also, not my best work.

:}

Tori almost danced into school, excited about her first day as a senior. However, it wasn't just that now, she and her friends would functionally rule the school. They'd almost been doing that since junior year. No, the problem was deeper, more personal. Over the summer things had gotten tense, some of her friends fading into the background, only rumors spreading about what they'd been up to. But now, school was back in session, so everything could get back to normal, just like it always did. Issues that needed to be resolved, or were left handing from the end of last year. Things like Beck and Jade. Jade may have broken up with Beck, again, on that last day of school, but they'd soon run into each other, and them being Beck and Jade, they'd be a couple once more within days. Only, there was one complication...

It had felt weird not having Jade around over the summer. Not that Tori expected the goth would want to hang out much, all things considered. Yet somehow she'd felt that maybe., just maybe, they could be friends. Only this time, the breakup had been epic. 'I remember, it was bad. I mean, Beck and Jade made it to the last day of school, everything feeling just fine, then boom, he goes and announces that he's landed some small role on a Canadian television show, and won't be around most of the summer. He was spending his summer, or at least a big part of it, in Canada, instead of here where his friends where. He was spending his summer far from his girlfriend. Away from Jade.' Tori reminded herself, momentarily breaking her happy. 'What was amazing, cause she's already known, was that Jade tried to be supportive. She really tried. No screaming, no random acts of Tori abuse. Not even using Rex to unclog the toilets. No, Jade tried being stoic, which was so weird. I guess that had to be the warning, cause Jade, she's way to, um, I guess the diplomatic word is psychotic. I mean, we all know she's way to much the violent rage monster to have just let her boyfriend be away all summer. Away, and around the available, and lets face it, often beautiful girls he'd be filming with.' She shook her head.

'I'm amazed she lasted as long as she did.' Tori continued, clearing her mind of this so she could get back to her happy thoughts. 'I mean, you could see how bad it would be, what with Jade here, trying to stay strong, and him up in Canada, making her jealous just by smiling at the first cute celebrity who walked by him. We all knew it was straining Jade, thinking about that, so naturally, she chose to do something about it. So she lasted until lunch, picked a fight with Beck, and they exploded. It was bad, with Jade trying to get him to break up with her, or looking for the excuse to break up with him. Either way, before lunch was over, everyone at school knew they weren't a couple any more, and Beck Oliver was free to date whomever he wanted, all summer long.'

Coffee eyes looked around to see who, if anyone, was there before continuing with her review. 'Then, Jade waited. She just waited, disappearing and not interacting and waiting for Beck to return to her.' Tori recalled. 'Only, he wasn't alone when he came back. July ends, and he comes home, ready to spend all of August, or at least as much as we get, give how early school starts for us. But we were all looking forward to a couple of weeks of fun with Beck, but then, he shows up, and it turns out, up in Canada, he wasn't single for long.'

She leaned against her locker, watching the doors. 'I kinda like Priya, even if she's really not his type.' Tori thought. 'But she did have so much in common with Beck. She's a Canadian girl of Desi decent, meaning her families from some part of India. And she was moving, has moved to California to pursue acting.

Tori recalled meeting Priya during a visit the girl did before she actually moved here, and found the girl to be a sweet person, reminiscent of Beck in so many ways. 'If I didn't know how sisters worked, I'd swear she was his, cause their both good looking, she does look a little like him, and they have the same laid back personality. I mean, she's nice enough, but didn't Beck once tell me he liked a challenge, and that girl, Priya, she's anything but a challenge.' Tori hesitated. 'Or maybe she is, and I just don't see it. Either way, I feel like she just won't last long as Beck's girl. She just, there's no other way to explain it, she feels like his sister. My god, Beck is dating his sister!' Tori managed not to laugh at her own joke, since she knew it wasn't funny. 'It wasn't supposed to last...'

To Tori, that relationship seemed doomed, and Beck would soon be looking for the familiar, in the form of a dark haired goth with a scissor obsession. However, here it was, the first day of school, and the pretty, proper girl was still attached at his hip. Naturally, Tori was anxious to see how Jade would react, especially given the rumors she'd started to hear as the school year drew near.

Another factor to consider was what Beck's new girl was doing. Priya, it seemed, had gone to a private school, one that followed the British traditions, and at seventeen was now finished with her primary education. She instead had a job of some sorts as she studied acting from local teachers. 'Beck does seem happy to be with her, almost giddy. It's like, she makes him happy, despite being nothing like what he told me he likes. So, did he lie, or did he need someone who challenged him, but didn't threaten him? And what will happen when Poor, pretty Priya finally runs into Jade West, the pale death.' Tori chuckled. 'Okay, maybe she's not that bad, but she… I have no idea how bad she'll react, given what I've heard, and I've been hearing almost nothing. And, and how the holy chiz does he kiss her? It'd be like me kissing Trina, only more weird, cause girls sometimes practice kissing with other girls, know it doesn't mean anything. Beck may be giving his sister tongue...' She wondered as she finished cleaning out the dust from her locker. Her head spun with the thought.

Her mind turned to the rumors she'd been hearing. Yea, she'd heard them before, many times. It seemed that those rumors spread whenever Jade was away from her friends for any length of time, but especially during this last summer. Rumors of destructive behavior, self harm, and who knows what kind of debauchery. Tori knew better then to give those kinds of rumors too much credit, usually. However, this time they was different. New rumors had been floating around, in many ways just like the old ones, but they had become more consistent, in a scary, dark and worrisome kind of way. Tori had heard them, as she interacted with people she knew from school, and now had to accept that those rumors might have something behind them.

'It started some time late in July. I believe it was around her birthday.' Tori recalled, now once again watching the door intently. 'That was when the rumors started getting serious. People were whispering to one another, any time one of us, Jade's friends, might be close enough to hear. I heard they even whispered around Sinjin, so they had to think it was serious, cause Sinjin, not Jade's favorite person. The odds of him telling her are low. Moreover, the odds of her letting him be that close, long enough for him to tell her, were even lower.'

Tori knew the rumors. 'They start off with her getting kicked out. Like, apparently, Jade and her dad, and we might as well include her mom, but the rumors usually say dad or family, but they got in a fight. Some people say disagreement, but one doesn't get kicked out over a disagreement, even if Jade overreacted. And she, as usual, overreacted.' Tori scanned the entryway for any of her friends, cause they'd know, she hoped, if any of the rumors were true. 'Of course, no one knows any details. Not even what the fight was about. Just that they fought, and Jade got thrown out. Then, what most people seemed to agree on, is that Jade went down hill fast. Got all depressed, had no one to help her out, no support, and she spiraled. They claim she tried to kill herself. Like really kill herself.' Tori sighed. 'Like she'd just give up. That girl is so full of fight, she probably took over some place, forced them to help her, and now rules the street.' She smiled. "Nhaa, but Jade can survive. She's tough. Wouldn't try to end things, cause she's determined to be a star, right? Jade would never try to end her life, right?' Tori was drifting in her worries, no longer watching around her as intently as she'd been just moments ago. Tori didn't just want to see Jade walk into the school, she needed to, so she'd be sure Jade was alive and well. Tori needed those rumors to be just that, rumors, with no basis in fact. Only, some rumors had at least that kernel of truth, so Tori needed to see the goth. Jade walking in was her cue that everything would go back to normal soon.

"Tori, hay, whats up?" Beck said, smiling. He'd been so invested in his new girlfriend that Tori doubted anyone would have told him the Jade rumors. Most of the students, including some of the one's who wanted Beck for themselves, weren't gonna break up this romance, at least not for a while. They felt that Beck deserved his bit of happiness… for now.

Of course, Beck had other things on his mind. Priya had been very distracting towards the end of summer, wanting to do the various California things with her boyfriend. Tori had gone with them to the beach, insisting that Trina drive, since there was enough room for all four of them in the older girls car. It was also the end of Trina's crush on Beck. As for Tori, she was just happy to see him at school, not attached to the girl.

"Oh, you know, the usual." Tori chirped back. "But hay, seniors. Am I right?"

"It's a new year." Beck agreed. "Our last year together." His eyes seemed to sparkle. "I say lets make the most out of things. Have us a great, memorable year."

"Is Jade here?" Sinjin asked. He'd walked up in Beck's shadow. Now that they were better friends, the lanky boy had become Beck's most trusted confidant, the role that Jade, oddly, had once filled. "I was wondering if maybe she'd be willing to go out with me."

"Sinj, you know she'll just try to push you through the paper shredder, again." Beck warned his friend.

"But she was really depressed all summer." The lanky boy explained.

Beck's head whipped around to Tori. "And this is the first I'm hearing about this?" He asked, a hint of anger under his calm exterior.

"In my defense, she's been avoiding me." Tori said. "I'm as anxious as anyone to see her, see for myself that the rumors are totally wrong."

"What rumors?" Beck asked both his friends.

That was when Cat walked in, looking far less happy then anyone could remember her being. A week in a Yerbain prison hadn't broken her, but a two month sentence in an Arizona Jail almost did. "Hi." She said, looking straight ahead.

"Cat, you okay?" Tori asked.

"Tori!" The small girl cried, then she rushing up and hugged her friend hard. "I'm so glad to see you again."

"You saw me last week." Tori said, trying to break fee from her friends death grip.

Cat had been sentence to sixty day in jail for assaulting a hair models hair, but like many well behaved prisoners and youthful offenders, she only served 60% of her sentence, or thirty six days. Had she been in prison, federal law required her to serve at least eighty five percent of the sentence, but only being in jail got her out early. Still, the time in jail, with her probationary period making up of the remainder of her sentence, had dulled her normal sense of joy. It wasn't completely gone, just dulled around strangers. But the worst part of the whole ordeal was that her roommate, Sam, could have done something to help her avoid going to or staying in jail.

Those in the know had found out that Cat could have paid a fine and only served a few days in jail. But her roommate, Sam, had not only decided not to go rescue her, the blond had convinced Cat's Nona that the perky girl was just spending more time in Arizona, and so no one needed to do anything about her. Because of Sam, Cat served her sentence, and then had to find a way home. Luckily for the redhead, Cat's friend Dice was able to send her a bus ticket home, then arrange for her to be picked up and dropped off at the apartment. But feeling abandoned by her friends, Cat fell into a deep depression.

'Of course, Cat rebounded, but not before going through an isolationist phase.' Tori reminded herself. 'She probably wondered about Jade, but never asked. I guess that's a good thing. Jade's not the most understanding of people.'

In fact, Cat did wonder about Jade, wanted to talk to the gothic girl, but at the same time wasn't sure it would have been a good idea. She just didn't want to be made fun of for having been in jail. So Cat wound up not seeing her best friend the entire summer. Instead, when not working, she hung out at the Vega residence. 'Trina made sure she didn't hear any of the Jade rumors. Said Cat needed the time to recover, feel better about herself. Also, why worry her if the rumors weren't true. Heck, Trina even told me that, since we couldn't do a fudging thing about Jade, at least until she contacted us, we needed to focus on the things we could do, like taking care of Cat. Or Trina's nails. Not sure how that kept coming up, but in an odd way, buffing Trina's nails did help Cat feel a little more normal. God, I wish Trina were here...' Her eyes refocused on the wall. "Never thought that before."

"What?' Beck asked.

"I just wished Trina was here." Tori explained, as she wiggled out of Cat's death grip.

Cat smiled, as she could do in the presence of her friends and the people she knew cared about her. It was only at home, where her and Sam were still in a strained relationship, or among strangers, that she fell back into prison normal. "Trina's been good to me." Cat said, looking her friends over with deep, worried brown eyes. "So, um, has anyone seen Jade yet?" She asked, her voice smaller then usual. The collected others shook their heads no.

Just then, saving them from a potentially uncomfortable question, there was movement at the front door.

Tori braced herself for the reaction, from any one of her friends, for when the goth walked into the school. Instead, she saw Andre and Robbie arguing, again. That had started when Robbie's father made him get a summer job at the same mall that Andre worked at.

'Turns out Robbie's a good worker bee, doing the grunt work and looking competent.' Tori reminded herself. 'So he bounces around the mall, helping out where the store owners feel they need him, and winds up working at Yotally Togurt, with Andre. Rob then asks his dad to help the owner, who I remember was a dufus whenn it camew to business. But robbie asked his dad to try and figure out how they can increase profits, or maybe make on their next big product. Rob's dad invests in the shop, takes over some of the management duties, cause lets be honest, the owner had no idea what he was doing. That mister Shapiro managed to convince him was a miracle. and since this was the first thing Robbie did that his father approved of, Rob wound up the new assistant manager.' Tori sighed in solidarity with her friend. 'Good on Robbie, but now he's the assistant manager of Yorally Togurt, and Dre's supervisor. Naturally, that's driving Andre nuts.' She'd heard her best friend complain about it often enough.

"I'm just saying, if we remove the soap particles storage from next to the other toppings, we reduce accidents, and can add another yummy topping to the menu." Robbie was saying. "We'd just switch to a liquid cleaner."

"And I'm saying that we've always done things that way, and we've had almost no mistakes." Andre argued. "Certainly we don't have any repeat mistakes." Tori knew that Andre was just arguing to argue, since he, and her, could clearly see how good the curly haired boy was at the job. It was just Andre hated having Rob as his boss. He'd told Tori, back when she was trying to sell those disgusting berry balls, that they'd never had an assistant manager at Yotally Togurt. Mr. Mooney, the old boss, often just left Andre to run the store during his shifts, no one worrying who was in charge. In fact, Dre often ran the store by himself as his boss tried to figure out how to increase business. Only now, Dre had someone new to answer too, and it was the same by they'd all thought of as their charity case friend. And if that wasn't bad enough, sometimes Robbie would let his power go to his head, like when he made Rex employee of the month. "Beck, Little Red, Tori." Andre greeted his friends.

"Hay Beck, girls." Robbie greeted them. "Have you heard about Jade?"

"Why?" Andre asked.

"She's going to be here any minute, assuming she chooses to show up at all." Rob continued. "But from what I heard, she tried to kill herself after her mother told her that she, the mother, was moving to New York, and that Jade was on her own now that she's eighteen." He leaned in conspiratorially. "But here's the kicker. She's seventeen. She's been pretending to be a year older, probably because people respect older girls, and her parents used that as an excuse to throw her out. Of course, her father wont take her, so no one knows where she's been living. Maybe in her car, right? But no, cause her dad took that too." He ran his eyes over the group. "Anyways, expect a different Jade when she walks through that door."

"You shouldn't spread rumors." Tori said. But out of the corner of her eye, she could see Andre nodding, seeming to agree with Robbie on this, if nothing else. That meant that this was more likely to be the truth then anything Tori had heard so far. It also did fit with a lot of the things she had heard, often overheard as various girls talked to Mrs. Lee at Nozu, since that woman loved hearing about how Jade was suffering.

'Those girls even said, as of last week, Jade hadn't bothered coloring her hair, or even cleaning her cloths. Nothing since she tried to take her life.' Tori reminded herself. 'Of course, I didn't believe them, cause that would hint that Jade's like seriously depressed, lost and giving up, and I just can't have her giving up yet.' Tori knew that, if those rumors were true, it was only a matter of time before she snapped, and the best case scenario was Jade would be gone. Worst case, others would go with her. It was one of the reasons she was so desperate to see the girl walk into school, head held high, pretending that Beck moving on didn't mean a thing to her.

Cat had grabbed onto Tori for support, holding herself up for the short time she needed to get a hold of her emotions. "I heard about Jade." Cat said after a moment. "What? You didn't think I'd try calling her? Maybe talking to her parents. Okay, it was only within the last couple of days, after I heard the rumors, but still, I tried." Then the anger faded, and the small girl's face, almost her entire world, fell. "I blamed her for leaving me in Arizona, like I blamed Sam. But Sam had the means to help me. Hell, she could have helped Jade. But she didn't. And now, I'm left feeling all guilty for avoiding Jade when she could be out there on the streets, dying, or worse." Tori felt the petite girl shaking.

"Worse?" Tori asked. But Cat didn't elaborate. Instead, she continued holding onto Tori's arm for support and tried to make small talk.

"So, what do you think Sikowitz is gonna try to teach us this year. I mean, he was scraping the bottom of the barrel towards the end of last year." Beck asked, equally eager to avoid speculation until Jade arrived. If Jade arrived. "I mean, bus theater?"

They talked, making small talk and in general being friends, until just before school was supposed to start. That's when, once again, the door flung opened, this time revealing the girl they'd all been avoiding talking about. Jade walked in, head held high, and for a second, just a second, it felt like things had gone back to normal.

The goth was in rare form. Her black dress said sexy and dangerous, with leather and lace hugging her thin but curvy frame. Her eyes screamed danger, a warning that anyone who was between her and her goal was likely to end up in traction. She strode to where the gang was gathered, reaching into her 'Gears of War' bag for something as she closed. No one, not even students new to the school, wanted to be in her path, as powerful, determined steps took her straight towards Beck….

Towards, and beyond. Jade walked past her ex, closing the short distance where Tori stood, too shocked to move. As what was happening started to register with the gang, the singer braced for some unspeakable act of violence, or anything related.

Moments later, she opened her eyes, since all Jade did was place a quick kiss on the Latina's lips. "Morning." Jade said, turning to see everyone, looking almost chipper. "So, we all download our schedules?" Her smile felt warm, which of course made everyone else nervous. "Of course you didn't. Here, babe, I downloaded yours." Jade pulled out a piece of paper from her bag, a printout with Tori's schedule on it, and handed to the stunned Latina. Jade spoke directly to her. "We have three classes together this year." Her voice was an odd mix of soft and excited. "The lucky break was both of us getting the TA gig for Sikowitz's beginning acting class. Together. That should be a trip." She looked around at her friends. "I'd love to stick around, but we all need to get to home room. You guys can get your schedules, and I can relax while they go over chiz I already know. Later." She looked at Tori. "Later, babe." Then, after another quick peck on the lips, the goth was gone.

Everyone was looking at Tori, "Okay, that wasn't in any of the rumors I heard." Andre said.

:}

So, thoughts? I have a couple of more chapters, and wanna know if anyone wants to see how things work out. Just, I love my happy endings, so you've been warned.

Oh yea, review.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Don't own, so don't sue. (Schneider's bakery and Nickelodeon own Victorious and their characters. All characters used are for entertainment purposes only, and no money is made or exchanged. Wait twenty to thirty minutes after eating before swimming, as you may develop cramps. Use as directed.)

Disclaimer 2: I may have put a joke in the first disclaimer.

:}

Seconds ticked by as the gang all stood in Jade's wake, her form having already disappeared, heading off in the direction of her homeroom. Not one of them had found it in themselves to do anything beyond Andre's one comment. They all were focused on one thing, that Jade had kissed Tori on the lips, twice, while speaking as if the two were a couple. The whole thing had happened so quickly that none of the others had even formed a reaction yet. Many couldn't believe the change in the goths attitude, especially towards Tori, so they stared, some with less then helpful intent.

Tori, for her part, was so stunned by the action she'd just let it happen. Now, however, as only the memory of the recent events was left to confront, Tori realized her friends wanted answers. Answers she couldn't give, because they were answers she didn't have. So with them all looking at her, the Latina was left to explain, satisfying the question on all their minds.

"Guys, it's not what you think." Tori swore. Nervously glancing at her phone, looking for something that would satisfy her friends, and she realized they were going to be late for homeroom if they didn't get moving soon. "I'll explain at lunch, okay?" She said, wanting to have time to sort out her own feelings on the matter. That and check her body for planted whatever.

"Need time to get your story straight?" Andre asked.. He was still in shock, trying to sort things out, so a comment meant to be a tease came out an accusation.

"I swear, I hadn't heard anything about this." Robbie added. For his part, Robbie was far less judgmental, just wanting to know what was happening, as well as thinking about how Cat might be feeling. As a result, his comments came across as far less acusitory. "Why did Rex insist on sleeping in today? He's gonna be so wazzed to have missed that."

"I was there, at your place." Cat added, caught between angry and hurt. "You should have told me!"

The singer looked flustered. "Guys, this isn't..."

The three toned bell rang, letting them know their first day of school had begun. "Later guys." Tori called out, hoping to make a quick retreat. "And I have my story. I just need time." Then she was off to her new home room.

The first day at Hollywood Arts was as different as the school itself. The freshman and seniors were expected to start one day before the rest of the students. That gave the freshmen a chance to get their schedules and tour the school before regular classes began. The seniors had the privilege of one day of schedule adjustment if they needed it. In return, they were expected to be there to help the freshmen find their way around the place, explain the rules to anyone who didn't quite understand, maybe go over the traditions of the school, and possibly do a performance. Finally, they were available to help the freshmen decorate their lockers, though many would choose to just hang out with friends instead. It was obvious that this was the beginning of a new school year, with a full quarter of the lockers that lined the halls of the school were there original base gray.

There was a downside to this arrangement. The seniors, so used to the school, didn't have their normal classes the first day. There were things that needed to get done, and seniors like Tori, Beck, even Robbie, would be volunteered early to help out in whatever way possible. There was even an assembly after lunch, with impromptu performances by a selection of seniors. Only after the assembly, when the freshmen were given time to decorate their lockers, did the seniors get to hang out with friends they may not have seen in months. However, for the morning, they headed to their abridged list of classes, home room and helping out assigned students, as well as those who were TA's having a quick word with the teachers they'd be helping. It was a hectic, but refreshing time, because once again, the normalcy of school, even one as unusual as Hollywood Arts, was giving some students that structure they didn't realize they needed in their lives. For others, it was the relief of having something to take their minds off of their problems.

Tori threw herself into the chores of the first day, trying to ignore Jade as she made kissy faces during homeroom, or kept touching the other girl during their meeting with Sikowitz. Tori wasn't sure what to do, but didn't dare correct the blue eyed girl, least she anger her frenimy. On the other hand, Tori was wondering when the other shoe would drop, and Jade would unleash whatever horrors she'd planned to embarrass the singer. The only problem was, with easy to anticipate exceptions, it was far easier to harm her then embarrass her. Tori felt safe from that avenue of torture, and suspected that if Jade wanted to hurt her, she had plenty of chances already that day. Also, Jade was never more then flirty, playing with Tori's hair or otherwise reminding the girl that they were in fact an item.

Lunch came, and Tori was able to meet up with the guys in the asphalt cafe. "Okay, before Jade gets here, I need you guys to get this. I haven't seen Jade since the last day of school." Tori said quickly. "Remember how she didn't even show up to the end of the year party at Josh's."

"She probably didn't want to see me." Beck said, as if an explanation was warranted. "So, you're saying you two didn't hook up?"

They wouldn't get an answer, as several near by seniors shushed them, alerting the group that Jade was making her appearance at the Asphalt Cafe. Walking with a purpose, she strode straight to their table, then glared at Andre. "Move." She said. The musician shifted over, but chose the wrong direction, closer to Tori. A second later Jade corrected his mistake, physically moving the boy with one arm.

"Holy chiz, your Posey strong." The boy exclaimed, moving an extra scootch away from his best friend even as Jade sat down between them.

"See, no violence." Jade said to Tori before stealing another chaste kiss. "I told you I'd be better. No violence, and look, the scars are all old." Jade showed Tori a quick look at her arms.

"Right." Tori said, still trying to process the kiss. She didn't notice the strange angry look Cat was giving Beck, or the confused looks from Andre and Robbie, even as she tried to understand he scars comment. There were thin lines of raised flesh, pale white lines along her arms that hinted at something far worse then just her normal teen angst.

"So, Jade, how'd you and Toro here hook up?" Andre asked. Several students, including a couple sitting close enough to possibly overhear, all shifted a scooch further away, not wanting to be in the line of fire if the goth exploded. No one wanted scissor related injuries on the first day of school. Others gave the boy a dirty look. But his closest friends all had to keep themselves from leaning in to hear whatever response the pale girl might offer, assuming Andre lived to see the end of the school day.

Only Jade didn't get mad, and it seemed was happy to comply. "We kinda hung out after Beck and I broke up, but neither of us were willing to call it anything. Then, after my life fell apart, and I tried to kill myself..." Jade stopped to address Tori. "Again, sorry, I should have tried talking to you. But at that time, I felt that no one cared, and the world was better off with me dead." She then turned back to the group. "Well, after the suicide attempt, we just got closer. I think it was me deciding that if I was willing to die, maybe I was willing to try anything to feel better. And dating Tori has been the one bright spot in my summer. That, and the shit hole apartment I have. It's part of the youth housing program, and I have a job to help pay the bills, or rather put in savings to help pay future bills. It makes it hard to spend time with Tori here, but hay, I'm on school hours now, and I can see her as much as I want as long as I get my chiz done."

"So where are you working?" Robbie asked. Neither Cat nor Beck had said a thing. Both were now glaring at Jade and Tori.

"I got a job at Maestro's, singing and playing piano." Jade explained. "I have the crap dinner shift of seven to nine, and they only pay minimum wage. That is, California minimum wage. But I get tips, sometimes, and they give me dinner, free. So I make out good." She smiled at that, enjoying a moment, before plunging back in. "I work Sunday through Thursday. The good weekend shifts are already taken, cause of the hot tipping. But some days, I'll make over a hundred dollars in tips. I've been averaging over two hundred in tips per week."

"That's good." Tori said, not wanting them to have any silence that could disrupt the conversation. "That's what, forty a night, average?"

"Babe, please, don't set me up like that." Jade said, slapping Tori's shoulder gently. "You know I still have the thoughts, even when I control myself. And you know it's not easy, cause I make fun of everyone." She gave Tori an innocent smile, eyes blinking multiple times to enhance the image.

"Go on, tell us what you were thinking." Beck said, drawing both girls attention back the group. "I, for one, want to know if Tori here is getting it easier then I was."

"Clean your mind, boy." Jade directed at her ex. "You know I wait until at least the hundred day kiss. Not like miss traditional you're dating." Jade held him with her eyes, and the others only barely noticed that Jade had been gentile describing his current girl friend. They all shifted just a scooch further away from her. "But to answer your question, I was gonna comment on Tori here doing math. We all know it's not her subject."

"I do fine, thank you very much." Tori huffed. Jade leaned into her, and when the Latina looked over, stole another chaste kiss.

"You know you like it." Jade said, smirking. "And yea, I have to be on my best behavior for my job. But give me a month, here at school, and I'll be back to my old psychotic self in no time."

"Good thing that's a month from now. And Tori, you know whats also a month away, right? Just a mere thirty more days and you'll get to one hundred days, with everything that go's with it." He gave the girls a knowing smile, along with a quick wink, only to notice that Cat was glaring hot death at him. Cat, Beck, and Tori all were giving him disapproving glares, though the other two weren't quite as bad. "What?"

"No offense, Dre, but Tor-Tor and I both like to count from when we called it dating, so we're at maybe thirty days." Jade explained, seeming to ignore the reactions from the group. Jade's voice grew just a touch harder. "Romance, and trust, has to be built, over time." Then, back to her more normal, if jovial voice. "And speaking of time, I'm hoping to make some extra cash this weekend." She turned back to Tori. "Oh, yea, sorry babe, but I'm working this weekend. I could make a weeks worth of tips, or more, in just this weekend. I just need the chance to play. You don't mind, do you? I'll spend the whole of the next one with you." She hesitated a moment, counting the days. "No, wait, that's labor Day. I'll be working that weekend too. Damn!" Her eyes spoke of apologies and sought forgiveness. "Tori, please forgive me, but I may not be seeing you much the next couple of weeks." Her face shifted back to a warm smile, coaxing forgiveness out of the target of her attention. "We good? I'll call and text and everything. Just, you know, please..." She once again gave her girlfriend wide apologetic eyes.

"It's okay." Tori said. "Just, make time for me when you can."

Jade hugged Tori hard, and kissed the other girls cheek. "Thanks." She said, smiling. "Guys, I'm performing this afternoon, so why don't you help out, and we can hang. And Beck, please inform Sinjin that he doesn't need to hide." She shrugged. "I couldn't get access to the paper shredder. Try to shred one nerd, and they go and lock it up. It wasn't even plugged in when I tried..." She smirked, but seemed to let the subject of her attempted use of the shredder drop.

The rest of lunch went by with the gang talking. The subject of Jade's attempt on her own life was now open, so there were question. Jade didn't avoid the questions, instead answering them directly, and apologizing to Cat multiple times. "So I tried overdosing, so I'd leave a reasonably attractive corpse, but of course, mom switched the labels on her meds, and I overdosed on Motrin. You ever hear of anyone overdosing on Motrin? I suppose it could be done, but it only made me sleepy. So then I tried hanging myself, and screwed up again. The overhead beam I chose wouldn't hold my weight. I was left unconscious on the floor. Of course my neighbor heard the noise and had called the cops, who then revived me and took my in for a 'Fifty-One Fifty.' Turns out that's the police code for when you're locked up for seventy two hours as a danger to yourself or others. I just thought it was a Van Halen album. Who knew." Jade said, shrugging again. "And after that, Things kinda started turning themselves around."

"And how'd your parents take it?" Beck asked. Cat watched with a growing sense of anger. It was as if the petite girl was dreading the answer she knew was coming.

"My mom said she'd wished I'd have done a better job of ending myself, and I should have told her what I was planning so she could have shown me where the real medications were." Jade said as Cat stiffened. "My dad was worried about what his business associates would think. There was more, but lets just say he's out of the picture for now. See, while I was recovering at the hospital, Tori's dad here caught him trying to force me to do something, nothing sexual, and the resulting investigation isn't turning out too good for him. I'm guessing he's wishing he'd thought about that before he put his reputation over the health of his daughter."

Cat was looking at Tori, open mouthed. Her body was relaxing, letting go of a lot of rage, as she processed what she'd just heard. "Tori, your dad arrested Jade's dad?"

"He had too. My dad was beating me half to death. In the hospital. Hell of a way to let me know I shouldn't have tried to kill myself." Jade said, sounding sad. "I just wish my dad understood, I was, am, more then good enough. He just had to stop trying to make me into the obedient daughter he felt I should be. Thankfully his new wife and step daughter are gonna be all right." Beck was staring at Jade now, trying to wrap his mind around what he'd just heard. "Look, I learned a lot over the last month. Tammy deserves to be happy, just not at my expense. She and her mom are going to be okay cause Dad had started his own business, and she has taken over managing it. She's not as good, but has a hella lot more good will then dad ever did. She should be fine. That AND earn enough for her and the kid."

"What about you?" Cat asked.

"I'm okay." Jade admitted. "I'm old enough to take care of myself. Tammy isn't. This is for the best."

"But you got nothing!" Cat whined.

"I have Tori." Jade replied. "And playing at Maestro's is professional work, so it'll look good on my resume. I'm expecting good things now, as long as I have my Tori here believing in me." Jade hugged the confused Latina, and then kissed her cheek again.

"And the scars on your arms?" Robbie asked.

"I didn't try to slit my wrists, if that's what your asking." Jade assured the group. "Honestly, Beck already knew, but I am, or was, a cutter. Beck just thought I'd stopped, cause there are places to hurt yourself that aren't easy to find. But, during the summer, I just didn't care. Of course, Tor-Bear here insists I do better, and her dad knows all the tricks, so I had to give it up. Again, no big, cause I have my girl." She smiled, only to notice the time on some kids watch. "Oh my Goddess! Sorry, babe, but I gotta go get set up for my performance now." Her eyes shifted back to the gang as she stood up. "You guys, I'll see you later." She nodded at Tori. "Babe." She kissed Tori one more time, took the remains of her lunch to throw away, and left them staring.

"Tori?" Cat asked, still sorting through everything she'd just heard. But Tori had no answers, cause she was even more confused then before.

:}

So, we have Jade's side of what happened, but I get the feeling there are bits missing, things that will never be filled in. But for now, we know that Jade does believe they're in a relationship, and it's given her the strength to combat a lot of her self destructive behaviors. Now, the gang just needs to figure out whats going on, and things will move forward quickly. Of course, there are always complications.

Thanks for the reviews I've received, and the one's I'm gonna get, cause you know, new chapter and all. So, go ahead, review. You know you wanna.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Don't own.

This chapter, we find out who's off their rocker.

:}

After lunch, the rest of the day passed easily enough, even though all Tori's friends wanted to know what was going on with Jade. Tori found herself dealing with questions she knew she didn't have the answers to. Questions about how Jade could have such a complete story, and yet none of it be true. Cat in particular was on her case, angling for anything that might have caused this tectonic shift in Jade's life. "Tori, how'd you turn her gay?" Cat asked. "Or is she bi? Does she still appreciate a cute guy, or is it ass and titties all the way for her now?"

"CAT!" Tori cried, disrupting the back stage area as well as those getting ready to perform. Only those on stage or in the audience seemed immune, probably because of the sound system drowning her voice out. "Please, not here, not yet. I need to figure out what her game is."

While all the members of the gang agreed that playing some kind of trick on Tori, or anyone, was well withing the pale girls nature, they also felt like she had her story straight, and Tori was lacking in answers. So, while they kinda believed Tori, a part of them was wondering if maybe the Latina was hiding something. Instead, they kept an eye on Tori as Jade's name was called, and the blue eyed girl walked out to perform.

Given the short notice, this performances were functionally karaoke or improve. But at the same time, the performers were expected to put on a professional level show. As Jade's turn came up, she didn't disappoint. Tori was left mouth open, almost drooling at the song and dance the goth performed. The writer sang some song called "Animal" by one of those New York underground bands, and it spoke of desire, longing, and a dark power that was almost hypnotic. 'Great, now I'm starting to think about her THAT way.' The Latina scolded herself.

"Yea, she has a nice ass." Cat said in a stage whisper to Tori. "Have you tapped it?"

Tori almost lost it, right there. It was a miracle, aided by the sudden appearance of her best friend, that kept her from screaming, or trying a very Jade like response to the petite girls question. Instead, after a moment to compose herself, and under Andre's calming gaze, Tori tried reason. "Cat, we're not dating. It's just, the song, the dance, it's making her, um assets very noticeable."

"I'm fine with you dating Jade." Cat said, managing to surprise both Tori and Andre. "Even you tapping it. Just…. Wait, what does Tap it mean, cause now all I can think of is that on line shopping app I loved last year."

"Sex, little red." Andre filled in the blanks. "Tapping it, in that context, is saying sexing the girl up."

"Why?" Tori asked.

"Yea, Dre, why does it mean that?" Cat asked.

"Cause Cat has the right to know if miss thang there is gonna be your new boo." The musician said. "So, does your mother know?"

"You realize, Jade thinks she's my girlfriend." Tori pointed out. "So if your bothering me, I could have her come and straighten you out."

"Yea, we need to get that girl some help." Andre said, feeling a bit afraid. Jade moving him at lunch using only one arm had only added to his anxiety about how much the pale girl could hurt him. "So what do y'all think set her off?"

"You realize I still don't know why tapping it means sex, right?" Cat said, but seemed to be losing interest in that answer.

"Tori, ready the starlight effects. We're going dark instead of curtains to change out." Sinjin cut in, letting them know he was near, and still running the back stage. Moments later, adding "And I'd just like to say, not cool. I had next shot at Jade."

"I'm not dating her." Tori emphasized.

"And your the reason we can't have access to the paper shredder." Cat stage whispered.

"Her songs done, so set the lights and go greet your girl." Sinjin instructed the Latina, ignoring all comments.

With a huff, and not wanting to upset the goth before she knew what Jade was up to, Tori set the effects and walked over to where Jade was waiting off stage. Jade opened her arms for a big hug. "How was it?" Jade asked.

"I think you'd never let me sing that song." Tori replied, giving the pale girl her hug.

"Your voice is too popish for that song." Jade countered, letting go of the Latina. "Look, I'm gonna be heading over to your place after school, to get whatever homework we get finished. Tell Trina I'll behave, but she has to be less horrible, okay."

Tori opened her mouth to reply, and Jade kissed her again. Tori's eyes were open just a tad too much, trying to clear the dirty thoughts that were now sneaking through her mind. "I wonder, back in the day, I kissed Beck like that all the time." Jade noted. "So why does it take you by surprise, every time?"

"You cut me off." Tori said, her stage whisper scolding her girlfriend.

"Yea, I do that too." Jade replied. "Look, I did my due diligence entertaining the rug rat hordes. I'm gonna bounce."

"We can't just leave." Tori said, holding on to keep Jade from getting into trouble on the first day.

"Actually, you can't." Jade said. "Living on my own means I don't have to worry about them being responsible for me. I checked, and can go now. I just need to sign out, like an adult. Buuut, your hand on my ass does makes me want to stay. Pity, cause I have an errand to do." Jade landed another chaste kiss on Tori's nose, slipped out of her grasp, and took off.

"So how're you gonna break the news to your parents?" Andre asked. "Or do they already know?"

"I'm not dating Jade!" Tori said through clinched teeth.

"I think she likes your assets too." Cat said. "And by assets I mean your ass, and..."

"We get it." Tori cut her friend off. "We need to figure this out, cause Trina's not going to be willing to play along."

"And Jade clearly needs help." Sinjin added.

"Maybe you guys could get Beck, use the last half hour of school to brainstorm what's going on." Tori suggested. "I for one don't want to be there when this ends and she springs her trap."

"And you'd better hurry." Cat added. "Cause each time Jade's done with her, Tori's just a little more sprung."

Andre was laughing as he rushed off to find Beck. Tori, for her part, was giving Cat her darkest look. "What?" The petite girl wondered, but Tori was too frazzled to explain, and no one else seemed to want to.

A short time later, after Beck joined them, they started talking about what was going on. But the handsome boy was still playing catch up. "Okay, Jade was hurting enough to try and kill herself, and no one bothered to tell me?" He asked.

"They were just rumors." Andre tried.

"I was in jail." Cat tossed out by way of defending herself. However, She looked like she was only half paying attention, watching her phone.

"Dude, she stuck her tongue down my throat." Tori added.

"Yea, but it kinda looked like you were enjoying that." Beck said. "Look, Tori, I'm fine if you and Jade hook up. I've moved on, and she should too. It's just, things are happening way too fast."

Tori tried to form some kind of response, only to be cut off before she could say a word.

"Okay, my brother, who's still in Idaho, said that it sounds like Jade needed a safety net after she found out that Beck had moved on. And when her life fell apart, she grabbed onto the only person who'd consistently been there to help her." Glancing up. "That's probably you, Tori." Glancing down again. "And she may be bisexual." Cat said, sounding like she was paraphrasing what her brother had written. Quickly, she added "I think he means Jade, but.." Her eyes were still on her phone as she typed something back.

"How does he know any of this?" Tori asked, hoping to cut Cat off from conjecturing on her own sexuality.

"He knows her." Cat replied, looking up from her phone. "And he has had a long time to figure out the psychological chiz. You know, on account of him being locked up for 'His own good.' And oh, yea, he wants you to know that he suspects Jade's possibly delusional, and probably very dangerous. Like a stalker." Cat glanced at Tori, then continued as if it were normal conversation. "He said, if he's right, then she's created this whole world where she feels safe, and as it falls apart, she may resort to truly horrific violence to make things fit again. And oh look, my brother wants me to come visit him in Idaho. Immediately." Her joy was cut short by a thought. "But I have school..."

"Jade could be dangerous…." Andre repeated. "JADE could be dangerous."

"Calm down." Beck tried.

"Jade could be dangerous." The musician said, holding his hand up. "Dangerous! Jade! Could!" He said, trying to emphasis how bad things were.

"Relax, we have Derick on security." Sinjin pointed out. "It's not like Jade's ever outsmarted him."

"Please tell me that's sarcasm." Tori begged the universe.

"Hay, you like her assets, right?" Cat asked, Tori just glared at the smaller girl.

"Not the time, Cat." Robbie warned. "Not the time." Then he smiled at her. "So, you free later tonight? I was thinking, we could hang out, maybe share some meatballs. You know, on account of Jade being crackers and maybe a threat to our very well being."

"Oh, sorry." Cat said. "But while I was in jail, I was a, what was it they called it? A LUR. You know, a 'lesbian until release.' Anyways, I didn't think much about it then, causer in Jail you couldn't do much more then kiss. But now that it's my choice, I'm thinking no one's been dating Trina. No offense, but if my bestest friend in the whole wide world is about to hurt me, and Tori's seriously thinking of taking advantage of Jade's sudden affection, then maybe it's time I tried something new. Besides, I think I'm Trina's type."

"Desperate?" Tori asked. "Did I say that out loud? I mean, what did I mean?" She looked to Andre for support.

"Could!" He emphasized.

"I think Dre here needs some time to cool off." Beck said, regaining his composure. "Tori, could I have a word with you?"

"Sure." Tori said, walking with him a short distance so they could be alone. "So, whats up?" She left Cat to continue explaining her sudden desire for Trina to Robbie.

"I want to say, I'm sorry." The handsome Canadian said. "I've been feeling jealous all day about Jade's sudden affection for you while also blaming you for what happened to her. You know, she was never willing to try that hard for me." His body heaved a quick sigh. "Anyways, I realized, with Cat's brother telling us how risky this whole situation is, that maybe it's not your fault. I should be blaming Jade's parents, and probably her, for this mess." His hand went through his hair. "I guess I'm saying I'll talk to her, see where she's at, mentally."

"I..." Tori started. "No, sorry, thanks." She took a deep breath. "I accept the apology. I don't know if I needed to, but lets play it safe. As for Jade, I'm going to figure out how bad things can get, maybe talk to Lane, and then I'll arrange an intervention." She flashed a quick smile, feeling like she was getting a handle on things now. "Until then, because of her work schedule, I won't have to worry about her demanding too much of my time. So if you think it's a good idea, I'll go on playing her girlfriend."

"I think I should be okay with that." Beck said, but for the accomplished actor, it sounded forced. Then he took a second. "But Jade's gonna want a lot of public displays of affection, so MAYBE I'll be okay with it. We'll talk." He smiled for a second, and Tori didn't feel too good about the look he had on his face.

"Any advice for surviving this roll?" Tori asked.

"She hates, well, so many things." He said, escaping into the question. He was far more comfortable giving advice. "I'll try to be there for you when she gets weird, and she will. I mean, weirder then this. Just, I hope she doesn't think she's told you too much more then you already know, cause with her, there's always a test. She needs to know you're not gonna hurt her."

"I-I'm not gonna hurt her...I..." Tori tried, but the words just weren't there. 'Jade's delusional, dangerous, and she needs to know she won't hurt me… Though, depending on what she wants, it may not be the worst way to go...' Not wanting to deal with those thoughts any more, Tori walked away from Beck, lost in thought, and walked into Cat.

"Tori, I want you to know that none of whats about to happen is your fault." The smaller girl said.

"Okay…." Tori replied, wondering how it was she kept being told confusing things. 'And it started as such a promising day...' Her mind reeled. "What's about to happen?"

"You're going to see Jade without her defenses." Cat said. The petite girls voice suddenly wasn't so high. It was like the little girl Cat usually came across as was gone, just for that moment. "And I'm so fucking jealous. Beck got to see, and I've caught glimpses, but I've never seen what you're about too."

"Um, thanks?" Tori asked.

"Take this seriously." Cat snapped. "Jade's in new territory with you, but she thinks she knows whats about to happen. You don't know that much. Neither of you do. Just, I don't know, be ready." Then the redheads voice was back to normal. "And, cause I kinda know, she's a good kisser."

"H-how do you know?" Tori asked.

Cat rolled her eyes, as if this was so common that everyone did it. "Cause I was her bestest girl friend." Cat chirped. "We practiced kissing with each other until we felt we had it right. Stage kisses, real kisses. Beck probably taught her a few things, but when we were done, she was a very good kisser."

"Oh." Tori said. She took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts. "I didn't do that. I don't know anyone who did."

"Then tell Trina I'm willing to teach her." Cat smiled.

"What is it with you?" Tori asked. "Why is everyone suddenly gay?" Tori asked the sky.

"Beck isn't." Cat said. "Robbie isn't, despite him being a closet transvestite. Andre, he's still in the closet. And me, I spent over a month behind bars. It's kinda a requirement."

"That shouldn't turn you gay." Tori argued.

"It didn't." Cat said. "Inside, I had a girlfriend just to stay sane. I wanted a boyfriend. So desperately wanted a cute boy. Only, in jail, all I could get were girls, cause the guards, in jail, watched so much closer. Not that I'd want one, cause hello, old." She smiled, blinking a second. "So I was here, looking for a cute boy, then Jade tries to suck your tonsils out, and I realize that one of the girls I could be gay for is your talentless sister. I even had the babies moment, where I wondered what we'd call our first child. I had that, I really did, just after lunch." She grabbed Tori's shirt and shook her. "What did you and Jade do to me?!"

"I'm not a part of this." Tori said, removing Cat's hands from her now wrinkled top. "And I have Jade to deal with. How do we deal with Jade?"

"Whatever you do, no matter how tempting she makes it, don't sleep with her." Cat advised. "You'd be taking advantage of her mental state. I don't want to think of you as that bad."

"I wont." Tori assured her. 'I wasn't planning on it, but she's right. Jade throwing herself at me has made me aware of how much I've been checking her out. I think I could be very gay for her.' That thought haunted her for several moments. "I promise, I wont take advantage of the crazy girl throwing herself at me."

"Good, cause crazy can be hot." Cat said, smiling. "Tell Trina nice things about me, and see if she's interested, kay?" Cat then skipped off to find someone else.

Tori decided to head home. By then, it was after school, and the seniors could leave if they wanted. Pulling her phone out, she called for a ride.

Trina soon picked her up and took her home, only making her wait a couple of minutes. "I don't get it." Trina said as they rode together. "I'm going to UCLA, and classes there don't start for another couple of weeks. How are you already in school"

"You went to Hollywood Arts for four years." Tori pointed out. "You had my schedule. How are you surprised?"

"It's just, it's so early." Trina complained. "We have a couple of weeks of summer let, all warm and sunny, and you're caught in school. I wanted to take you to the beach, pick up some guys. You haven't had a boyfriend in a while. And since I met Beck's new girl, I felt it was time for me to move on."

Tori found herself suddenly uncomfortable in her seat. They were less then a minute from home. She just hopes Trina wasn't about to ask about the rest of the gang. "I still wish Cat had called. I'll bet dad would have let us go on a road trip to Arizona, bail her out, pay her fine. Then she wouldn't have had to spend so much time locked up."

Tori didn't stop to think about the unusual altruism in her sisters wish, instead thanking the stars that they were only talking about Cat. "So, how'd Cat handle the whole Jade situation?" Echoed from nowhere, but probably from her sister.

"The what?" Tori asked. They were almost home, just one more street to go.

"The whole Jade being kicked out and trying to kill herself thing?" Trina asked. "And since I'm sure you'd have tried to find out, how's Jade?"

"She seemed good." Tori said, looking out the window. "And thank god, we're home." Tori almost didn't wait for the car to stop moving before she was out the door and racing into the house. 'Dad will be home after six, and I'll talk to him about my options. Also, I'll drop by Lane later this week, when he's not buried in scheduling problems. Those students can be so needy.'

:}

For the record, crazy people can build elaborate backgrounds, reasons why their fantasies are real. Add in that Jade's a writer, and it makes sense she'd have constructed a whole world where she felt loved. Of course, we don't know how this fantasy grew to seem like reality, but when you've watched people edit their memories, you understand that our past can seem fluid at times.

So, comments, critiques, thoughts, dance numbers, let me know in the comments below.

Anyone not get the song reference? I think it's funny that Liz not only starred in a movie called Animal, but it was the first song she sung in SDRR. Just saying.

So, review.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious or any of it's characters, Schneider's Bakery and Nickelodeon do. I just borrow them from time to time. And this is hardly the worst I've done to some of them.

:}

Tori raced up to her room, put away her stuff, and started looking over what she'd need for her first day of regular classes. Mostly, she just needed to relax, away from the stresses of the day. Time enough to deal with the whole Jade issue later, once her father was home. 'I just hope that mom, and Trina, understand how weird this situation really is. I just, god, why do I I feel like I'm forgetting something…?'

Trina didn't bother her for that entire time she was home, a good couple of hours, up until Jade arrived. "Tori, your freaky friend is here." She heard called up the stairs.

Tori almost freaked. 'My freaky friend? She doesn't mean Jade, does she..?" Reluctantly, she headed down to see who had come to visit.

Tori walked down to find Jade sitting on the couch, talking to her mother. "I know you're still in denial, but Tori and I have a shot at something here. I just want one parent to give this their blessing." Jade was saying.

Tori wanted to turn around and head back up stairs, but also had no desire to leave the dangerous girl alone with her parents. 'who knows what kind of things he'll be telling them, and then I'd have to explain. Of course, I already do...' She was so focused on her mother talking to Jade, she almost didn't notice her sister sliding up to her.

"So?" Trina asked her sister. "Anything you forgot to tell me on the drive home?"

"Mom, Treen, can we talk about this later? Jade's only here for a short while." Tori said in her best up beat voice. "Jade, why don't we go over our first assignments?"

"Cause we don't get them until tomorrow?" Jade said, sounding closer to the old Jade. "I just wanted to spend time with my girl. And since I had the chance, I thought I'd face your families denial head on and let them know this isn't a phase. At least not for me."

Tori almost gulped. "So, what do you wanna do?" She asked.

"We could do one of your annoying Slap challenges, or watch something. I heard America Sings have posted their 'worst of' from the recent auditions." Jade suggested.

"Sounds fun." Tori said, as she quickly got her computer and sat down next to the goth. 'Anything to avoid talking about this now. I'll, I have a plan, I'll deal with this later.' Tori found herself noting the pale girls proximity. As soon as she'd opened the right page, as they sat back to watch, Jade's arm slipped around Tori's waist.

"I can only stay until five thirty today." Jade told her girlfriend. "I still need to get home, change, head over, eat, then play my shift. I'm just glad I took care of the dresses earlier. Lined them up and everything."

"So glad." Tori commented. 'Stay upbeat. She's freakishly strong. Those arms, so strong, and kinda warm. Bad Tori, get your mind back on the danger, she's right here, all dangerous, and hot… and my god, that guy's way off key.'

They soon got lost in the horrible singing that went with the first round of the auditions. But as the show slowly progressed, Tori found Jade playing with her hair, caressing her arm and shoulder as well as her face, and in general moving them closer together. Towards the beginning of the dishonorable mentions, they had started kissing, Tori pulling onto Jade, making out in a soft, but intense burst of smooches. Tori found her hand was around Jade's shoulder for perch, but as they shifted, her arm was able to drop down the goths side and then move up under the pale arm. With her hand behind Jade's back, feeling the girls bra, she had the thought of how easy it would be to just slide her hand back towards herself. A few inches and she'd be on side boob. The thought consumed her, as the hand slowly pushed across the body, back towards Tori, moving towards her target. Even through the kissing, Tori's world shrunk to just her lips and the tips of her fingers.

"OH MY FUCKING GAWD!" Jade exclaimed as she pushed Tori off of her and onto the couch. Tori took a moment to wonder what the hell had just happened as Jade rushed forward to rewind the playback to an earlier time.

'Hay? Wait...Okay, I'm still on the couch, barely.' Tori thought as she tried to get angry. "What the…?"

"Tori, you have to see this." Jade said, pulling the Latina back into a one armed hug at her side. "This has to be the winner for the worst audition."

"Could you not." Trina said from her perch on the other couch. The older girl had been watching her sister and Jade slowly move from watching the show to making out.

Jade hit play, and Tori watched her sister walk onto the LA stage. The performance was bad, everything Tori knew Trina was capable of. Tori and Jade both cringed while listening, but couldn't look away. "Okay, that has to be the worst performance they've ever had." Jade said, smirking.

"Please, she's my sister." Tori kinda protsted, trying not to agree. "I'm sure there were worse performances." Tori doubted her own words, but hoped that this wasn't going to be the new thing people were talking about. A bad enough performance, and the whole school would be talking about it for days. With Trina in collage, that would mean it was Tori's job to try and defend the undefendable. However, she soon found that life never stops surprising you.

The next performer, some guy from Northridge, blew Trina out of competition for the worst performance. Tori, and Jade, were left speechless by the sheer horrendousness of the guys singing. Worse, he acted like he was the chiz, even more of a diva then Trina ever was. "Babe, I'd love to stay, but I have to get going." Jade said, not looking away. Like the gory movies she loved, Jade found this tragedy too good to ignore.

"It's early, you don't have to go yet." Tori said, also watching as the man threw a tantrum at being told he wasn't good enough. They hadn't even made it to the mean judge.

"I know, but if I stay and watch the rest of this, I won't be able to get away." Jade then summoned a tremendous act of will, turned to kiss Tori goodbye, then pushed herself out the door.

"Okay, let's save the rest of that for later." Trina said, pausing the playback. "I think you, mom, and Hay look, dad's due any minute, we should have a little talk about your girlfriend."

"Okay, but can we wait until Dad gets here?" Tori said, her voice edging on exhausted. "I really don't want to explain this again."

"Jade seems affectionate." Holly, their mother, said. "But I thought she hated you?"

"Mom, we're waiting for dad." Tori protested.

"No were not." Trina countered, a dangerous smirk on her face. "Mom, please call Dad. See if he can talk, then put him on speaker phone."

Not protesting, with an odd smile of her own, Holly did what her eldest asked, and a moment late David, the father, was on the line. "Hi girls. I'll be there in just a few minutes. Want me to pick something up, or is dinner already being made?"

"Could you drop by Philadelphia Markets and pick up a family meal?" Holly asked. "I hear the one on Oak has a drive through window."

"It does, and I will." The man said.

"Um, dad, don't hang up." Trina started. "Tori has something she needs to tell us, and she said she won't unless your included."

"Okay Tori, what'd you do?" He said in a tired voice. While his youngest was usually a good girl, he did know that sometimes she got into some difficult messes. Of course, her friends had never managed to make a mess this early in the school year, but they were seniors now. All kinds of new opportunities to cause trouble.

"She's spent a good half hour cuddling up with her death obsessed friend, Jade, making out." Holly said. "That was AFTER Jade accused me of being in denial about their relationship. Did I miss something?"

"Um, could you let me start?" Tori said. "And dad, their candied yams are to die for."

"Tori, please just tell me one thing." David said. "How long have you and Jade been together?"

"That depends on who you ask." Tori started. "To me and the rest of the world, we hadn't seen each other since the end of the last school year. To her, however, she thinks we've been together about a month. But there was no contact whatsoever. None. All I got where rumors, and I don't wanna talk about those on the phone. Anyways, Cats brother thinks she's delusional, and dangerous."

"Always a reliable source." Trina quipped.

"We'll get the whole story when I get home." He declared. "Holly, chicken, meatloaf, or ham?"

"Chicken." Holly said. "And some veggies. I'd like to pretend we're healthy."

Tori waited for her father, feeling nervous. Even if the worst of it was out, Tori had no idea what to expect. 'I was kissing her, like really kissing her...' Tori thought. Memories of her soft lips, and how close she'd come to feeling something else, now plagued her. It seemed that being with jade came much easier then she'd have thought. So she thought about what her parents would think, and found no comfort in that either. 'Dad, please don't judge me...'

However, when David arrived, it was as if there was nothing to discuss, with him walking in, telling people how his day went, and putting dinner on the table. He'd even got a gallon of lemonade. "It was part of a promotion, they gave away the drink with any purchases of a family meal. So, I thought, why not." He shrugged. "Anyways, lets get out the plates and dig in."

The brief flurry of movement gave the illusion that they were trying to move past the whole delusional Jade issue, with Tori feeling like her problem must have seemed somehow less, like maybe Jade was pulling another prank. It somehow made her feel bad, thinking that her story didn't rate her dad's attention. The earlier nerves that had bothered her seemed gone, waiting to return as soon as her father remembered that Tori was now somehow involved with a dangerous goth girl who'd made her life difficult since she started at Hollywood Arts.

However, once the food was split up and they had started eating, David was ready to hear what Tori had to say. "So, tell me about you and Jade." He said.

"Not much to tell, really." Tori replied, surprised at how calm she felt now that she was facing the issue. "I didn't see her all summer, and today she was under the impression that not only had we hung out all summer, but I was dating her."

"And why do you think she wound up thinking that?" Holly asked.

"She's been through a lot of chiz lately." Tori said.

"You can say shit." Trina cut in. "What she's been through doesn't get to count as janked. It's fucked up."

"Trina, language." Holly scolded her eldest. "Besides, we don't know that for sure. I mean, aren't those just rumors?"

"That's just it." Tori exclaimed. "Those rumors, they cover some of what she want through. Jade's been kicked out of her home, tried to kill herself and is living in some small apartment social services has set up for her." Tori took a moment, only for the next though to emerge. "And she seems to think that dad here arrested her father for trying to hurt her."

"He wasn't just trying." David said. "He assaulted her, IN the hospital. They're mandatory reporters. We went to talk to him, to keep SVU from having to deal with what was probably just an emotional overreaction, and discovered he beat his step daughter too. Then, as we looked into the possibility that he was using intimidation on anyone else, we discovered other crimes. Crimes we weren't looking for, and almost couldn't charge him with. But we had video evidence of the initial stuff, that he was involved in money laundering, and we were able to get a warrant and do the rest of the search from there."

"He was working for organized crime?" Trina gasped.

"Not exactly." David said. "The business he started, he was using that to launder funds that were gained through importing illegal ivory, something his friends were buying from poachers, cheap, then sending here, where he'd make it look like heritage ivory. Not that serious a crime, except it made him an accessory to poaching. That, and the amount of money certainly made it worse, cause fraud gets bad when the total cash value explodes. Long story short, he cut a deal, turned on his friends, and he's still going away for years."

"And his wife got to keep the business?" Tori asked.

"The business is just a reseller, admittedly a profitable one, that helps people sell things by doing all the work for various websites like Tradelist." David said. "This way, she gets a loyal customer base, and as long as she isn't falsifying documents, she's allowed to keep earning a living."

"So Jade was placed in an apartment by social serviced?" Trina asked, wanting to continue with the story.

"No, her father used to keep a mistress in that apartment." The father said. "When his new wife found out, she went to us, and had us offer it to Jade. The food deliveries were also part of his deal with the girl. He set up a trust fund to run the place and everything, to hide the funds from his wife. I think he owned the whole building, or several apartments, and he rented them out to pay for her needs, rent, food, ect. I don't now what happened to the mistress." He gave his wife a quick look, but she just smiled and nodded.

"So Jade's living in an apartment her father was paying for, fed by an account he paid for, and none of this was ever going to be offered to her otherwise?" Trina asked. "Got to admire that woman's sense of irony." She smiled. "The step mom." She clarified. "However, I do wounder, was this the only way she could have used that trust fund…?

"So, what was this about Jade being delusional?" David pushed to get back on track.

"Okay, from what Cat's brother could guess, after her eight thousand texts back and forth with him about what was going on with Jade, is that Jade had to create a fantasy world where someone cared about her." Tori explained. "Kinda like escaping into herself. But for now, she believes I'm in a relationship with her, and we're a little worried about what to do next." Her cheery disposition was gone. "I'm worried about what to do next. I mean, I'll talk to Lane, see if she'll come out of it as her life improves, but Cat's brother also said Jade could be dangerous, like a celebrity stalker who imagines they're in a relationship with a character, so they stalk the actor."

"And if you try to tell them they're wrong, they won't believe you." David finished for his daughter. "I see. So you're planning something?"

"An intervention." Tori told her dad. "I think, once we know enough, you and several of your cop buddies can be over here while she comes for a visit, and that's when we confront her."

"How soon will this visit be?" David asked.

"I'm thinking we'll have to wait at least a week, probably almost three." Tori explained. "She has a job, and I'd hate to cause her to miss it because we took too long talking to her. Also, being arrested could put a strain on her work scheduled. Plus, she told me she's working this and the next weekends, making extras money. But the weekend after that, on the Friday, that should work."

"And you can really go on pretending to be her girlfriend that long?" David asked.

"She almost groped Jade today while they were making out." Trina said. Tori glared at her sister. "Hey, I'm just pointing out you can play the part."

"Don't sleep with her." David said. "As is, this is dangerous. She may feel you're leading her on, or who knows what, and she may want to do things to remind herself you two are in love. Or, she could get violent, even desperate, if she thinks she has to in order to feel safe. I'll speak with some of the departments shrinks, see what we can do to help. I want to be ready. Until then, I guess Tori has a girlfriend. Try not to get too attached."

'Great, now to help a friend, I have to have my heart broken.' Tori thought as the dinner conversation shifted to the cute boy Trina was trying to meet that day.

"Trina, what have we said about stalking?" Holly chastised her eldest again.

"I'm not stalking." Trina countered. "I just need someone, and I think he likes me. It's not like the one I like is interested..."

"None of them are." Tori said, but her heart, and mind, weren't there. She was already mourning the end of her and Jade.

:}

That was another chapter down. Thoughts. Also, Philadelphia market is a spoof on Boston market. Just wanted you to know.

Yes, there are worse singers then trina.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious or any of it's characters.

:}

Armed with her plan, Tori spent the next hour texting her friends, letting them in on what their rolls were. For the most part, they would continue to be Jade's friend, while acting as if Jade and Tori were together. But at the same time, they'd be trying to help the adults figure out how deep the delusion went. Would Jade be willing to change, face reality, as her life got better. Or maybe all she really needed was to feel like someone cared about her. 'Just as long as it doesn't end in blood, I think I'll call it a win. God, when did dealing with Jade get so dangerous?' Tori didn't want an answer.

The next day, at school, she found Cat waiting for her by her locker. "So?" Cat asked.

"I texted you everything." Tori said, giving the ditzy girl a tired look.

"I know, and I'll do my part." Cat said. "But what about Trina? Did she ask about me? Do you think I should make the first move? What would be a first good move? Does she like candy? I have some licorice in my bra."

"Black or red?" Tori asked.

"Black, it's the original." Cat explained.

"Trina likes red licorices." Tori explained.

Cat looked hurt. "Okay, unexpected, but I hope we can work around it. Maybe we have other things we agree on."

"Like me and Jade not having any real connection?" Tori asked.

"Tori, please, you and Jade have a great connection." Cat said. "It speaks volumes that, of all the people she could have dated, she chose to latch onto you. Now, just don't hurt her, and maybe down the line, if she gets sane again, you and her can have something."

"Thanks." Tori said. "I have to get to class. And today we have freshmen all over us."

"That was yesterday." Cat said. "Unless your talking about the TA thing. Then yea, I get that. I'm dealing with them as an office assistant."

"Your an office assistant?" Tori asked, surprised. "I mean, that's great, but I didn't see you doing that kind of class."

"Then you don't remember last year, when we all pledged to get an assistant position of some sort this year. One less class full of homework, and it looks good on our transcripts." Cat said. She seemed to be getting frazzled, before she huffed out "It was my chizng idea."

"Right." Tori said, not sure what to think about anything right then.

"I'll forgive you, assuming you talk to your sister about maybe hanging out with me." Cat said, emotionally rebounding the way only she seemed able. "I'll be dating a cool, collage girl."

"Who happens to be the same Trina who always made excuses to hang out with us last year." Tori pointed out.

"Yea, but now she's in collage." Cat said. "I wonder how much more experienced she is in the ways of love?"

"CAT?!" Tori exclaimed. "I don't need to hear that."

"Hear what?" Jade asked. Somehow the goth, never quite known for her subtlety, had snuck up on them.

"How I've developed a girl crush on Trina." Cat said, as if it was the most normal thing in the world to say.

"You sure?" Jade asked. "She's kinda self centered."

"And your not?" Cat asked.

"We've never dated." Jade pointed out.

"Yet I've made it to second base with you." Cat said.

"You said that was an accident." Jade said, stepping back and placing her hand over her breasts.

"We both knew it wasn't." Cat countered. "Lets be honest, you developed, I didn't." She glanced down at herself. "Well, not so much." she sighed. "I just wanted to know what the fuss was about."

"So you groped me?" Jade asked.

"Jade." Cat said, her voice calm as she stepped closer to the taller girl. "You're like a sister to me. A sister who I practiced kissing with, and one time I groped her titty. But that was as far as we could go, being like sisters. Trina, however, she has the big titties, she's pretty, and as much as she doesn't use it, she knows more about the world, about people, then any of us. I want her to teach me about girly love. Also, if things work out, and we both know the odds, then maybe, just maybe, we really could be sisters of a sort."

"Yea, it'd be a long shot, but that would be nice." Jade said, starting to break down in tears. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you." The goth blurted through her tears.

Tori, who'd been watching the spectacle, looked around to see who might have noticed, then garbed the two girls and pulled them into the janitors closet. Once inside, she hugged the crying girl. "Jade, it's all right." Tori said, offering what comfort she could. The cloud burst of emotion was over quickly, with the writer adjusting her makeup while Cat looked both happy and confused.

"Jade, you know I'd never abandon you, right?" Cat asked, edging on remorse. "I didn't, I just, I had no idea what you were going through.. Just, you know, jail, then I was so embarrassed about assaulting a hair models hair…. It's not the kind of thing I'd normally do, and I was so humiliated, so I avoided you. I just wish I could have been there or you, given you a place to stay"

"It's all right." Jade said before chuckling. "I wish I'd seen that assault, cause that would have been funny. But it's all right. You're good, a good friend who couldn't have helped me any more then anyone else. Honestly, I wasn't homeless, just kicked out. I stayed at the shelter for a couple of days, you know, after I got out of the hospital, cause neither of my parents would take me. But I stayed there until this apartment unexpectedly opened up. Now normally there's a huge waiting list, but Officer Vega was able to get me in quick. I had no idea he'd pull strings for me, except I'm dating Tori, so I'm thinking that maybe he approves. Just, they're in denial." She shook her head with a big grin on her face. "Anyways, I've been living there, in that tiny apartment, ever since." Her eyes lit up. "You should totally come over. Both of you. I would love the company, and you could see my setup. And get this, the complex has satellite TV, included in the rent and everything. I watched a lot of Horror dot net that way."

"I'll bet you did." Tori said. "So, how long have you been in the new place again?" There was a moment of confused silence from the pale girl. Tori was left wondering if maybe she just said something wrong, and started trying to figure out hw to fix things so Jade wouldn't get violent.

Finaly, after a couple of seconds, Jade seemed to realize something. "Oh, right, you don't know exactaly when I moved in, do you." The goth said. "You only see me when we're out someplace, cause you know, probation at the apartment meant they have rules about who I can have over. But that was only for the first couple of weeks, until I proved I wasn't a problem. Now that I've gotten past The probationary phase, I can have visitors, and, well... I've been there about two and a half weeks, about as long as I've held this job at Maestro's. And get this, I found out some neat things about my food delivery service, cause they let me make some menu choices. But the best part, on top of everything else, I get a gourmet meal of leftovers five nights per week from work. More if the chef thinks I deserve a tip. Turns out employees get to take leftovers home, and I've have two lobster dinners sitting in my fridge cause I made the mistake of eating that three days in a row, and I'm sick of it."

"Wait, you've had lobster three days in a row?" Tori asked. She wasn't jealous so much as surprised.

"Yea, I think I should start working on the less expensive meals there." Jade commented, smiling. "Normally, the food take home is what was left over from that days cooking, taken home at the end of shift. Naturally, the chefs and servers get first choice. But as I said, the head chef is the one who controls that chiz, and when he likes my work, he gives me more. I just wish I didn't live in such a small place."

"How small?' Cat asked. "Cause my rooms not that big."

"Two hundred and forty square feet, including the bathroom and kitchenette" Jade explained. "But I have a great view of the city. Not a city lights view, just, you know, buildings."

"So it's small." Tori said. "At least it's your own space. And you have gourmet meals every night, plus normal food delivered. Look, babe, I know you had it rough, but right now, things look good for you. I'm just saying." She gave her best supportive smile. Then she thought hard at her girl. 'Jade, realize you don't need me. It'll hurt, but I think you need not to need me.'

Jade smiled back at her girlfriend. "You know what? You two should totally come over some time, like on a Saturday when I'm not working. We'd hang out, just the three of us. We'd do the things we used to do, like order pizza or a slap challenge, and we'd have us some fun, like old times."

"Can you even afford pizza now?" Tori asked.

"I have some mad money." The goth replied. "Despite the rules about me saving, since so much is already paid for, cause they want me to plan for the future. But I have some cash, from tips and chiz, and with luck, after the weekend, I'll have more. You have no idea how badly I've wanted to take you on a proper date." She closed on Tori, placing a hand around the Latina's neck to pull her in for a gentle kiss. The kiss deepened, and the passion grew, until Cat coughed to get their attention.

"Cough cough." Cat said. "I'm discreetly trying to get your attention. Please stop macking and look at me so I can pretend I wasn't."

"Very discreet." Tori said drolly. But they used that as an excuse to head out of the closet and towards their classes.

It was during Sikowitz's freshmen acting class that Jade managed to ask Tori about Cat. The teacher had been on time, without making one of his unusual entrances. He then started a long discussion on what acting was, and what kind of exercises they'd be doing. It seemed that improve was a more advanced technique, and the freshmen would be working towards it the entire school year, while also learning the basics of acting.

It was while he was droning on that Jade leaned over to Tori and whispered "Cat's interested in your sister, right?"

"Yea." Tori whispered back.

"Have you told Trina yet?" The goth asked.

Tori would have answered, but she was facing several dilemmas. First, she hadn't been sure how her sister would react. Cat was the one friend she shared with Trina, and Tori didn't want to make things awkward between the two of them. She didn't want things awkward between her and Cat either. Then there was the fact that Cat was such a close friend to Jade. That made it more complicated. But the biggest reason she hadn't answered was that she was thrown off by Jade referring to her sister by name, with no malice in her voice.

"No, not yet." Tori managed to squeak out.

"You probably should." Jade advised. "Cat's not gonna just sit back and let this opportunity pass her by. She knows that sometimes, you have to go for what you want. If she wants Trina, then we have to respect that, and not stand in her way. Besides, either your warning your sister, or opening the way for the two for them to have something. Avoiding the issue is just gonna cause problems later on. My therapist taught me that."

"You're seeing a therapist?" Tori asked.

"Saw one, for the whole tried to kill myself thing." Jade said, almost blowing the whole ordeal off. "Wait, didn't I tell you that already?"

"You must have." Tori agreed, not wanting to anger the girl. "I just, I've had a lot on my mind."

"I get that." Jade said. "Lets hope that, between this whole Cat and Trina drama, and Mason keeping you hanging, you find a chance to relax. Or, once we've been together long enough, I can help you relax. I've been reading, watching on line tutorials, and I think I know how to use my tongue to really relax you." Jade popped an eyebrow, an offer that Tori found way to distracting. The singer focused on the lesson, something she already knew, just to keep her dirty thoughts at bay. In the background, she heard Jade chuckling, that throaty, deep laugh that was sexy as hell.

The rest of the day had a strange, surreal feeling to it. Tori told those of her friends who weren't involved in her earlier discussions either that they needed to be there for Jade, or to those she didn't know well enough, that she and Jade were together for a project. It was a white lie, but it still worked. 'If I wind up with Jade, we were just taking it slow and careful.' She rationalized. 'Wait, if I wind up with Jade? I'm thinking of her that way already?' It wasn't the first time she';d realized how much she was falling for the blue eyed girl, but even still, it surprised her.

By the end of the day, Tori had told everyone who needed to know except Lane. Lane Alexander, the guidance counselor, was still too busy to be of any help, so she decided to wait until he was more available, or there was an emergency. She did, however, manage to talk to Sikowitz.

The acting teacher proved to be harder to isolate then Tori had anticipated. Jade was with her every moment the goth could be, and the teacher had a busy enough schedule at the beginning of the year anyways. Needing to talk to an adult at the school, Tori took advantage of Jade's work schedule to video chat with Sikowitz, supposedly to go over a possible audition.

"Okay, I lied." Tori started. "This is about Jade. I don't know if you noticed the difference, but she's been..."

"A total whack job?" The quirky thespian asked. "And even weirder then usual? Okay, if you have an insight, I'll hear it, but I was going to ask Beck."

"They broke up!" Tori said, feeling strangely frustrated. "Last day of the last school year. Don't you remember?"

"But their usually back together by her birthday." The coconut lover noted. "Not this time?"

"Beck went to Canada for a job, came back with a new girlfriend. Did you know Beck was Indian? I mean, from the middle east Indian?" Tori asked.

"I thought that was obvious." Sikowitz said dryly. "Wait, you didn't know? What did you think he was?"

"Maybe half Hispanic, like me." Tori said, now feeling a bit more unnerved. "But at least I knew they weren't together."

"She's not psychotic, so I'm assuming she's either with someone and happy, or heavily medicated." The acting teacher speculated.

"She's psychotic. Delusional." Tori volunteered. "After her family used a loophole to throw her out at seventeen, she lived a few days in a shelter before they found a place for her to stay. But that was after her attempt on her own life, with no one around to try and stop her. She's okay now, but she did almost die. But the worst of it was her mother's reaction to the attempt, telling her they'd all be better off if she were dead, while her father just disowned her. Actually, with him, it's complicated, but there's no going back. Jade has no family now."

"I see." The coconut connoisseur said. "So why's she so calm? And what delusion is she under? Do I have to pretend Adam West is her father?"

"She thinks we're together." Tori said. "She'd be here now, spending time with me, except she works, performing at Maestro's five nights per week, earning herself some spending money. See, she wants to be near me all the time, so I had to wait, talk while she's at work."

"So you're telling me she's working right now." Sikowitz said.

"Not the point I wanted to make." Tori huffed, upset with herself. "Jade thinks I'm her girlfriend, and that my calming influence is what helped her get through the hard times last summer. So in class, she'll be acting all couple-y. Just wanted to give you the heads up, maybe figure out a way for us to do this without making her more dangerous."

"I'm thinking there's something you're leaving out." Sikowitz said, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"Jade's delusion could be similar to celebrity stalkers." Tori explained. "The ones who think their involved with the actors character. And that means she could be even more dangerous."

"So that's why Andre said that to me." Sikowitz said.

"Said what?" Tori asked.

"He walked up to me and said, and I'm quoting, 'could be dangerous.' Didn't have a clue why." The teacher said. "So, you want me to treat you two as a couple?"

"If she thinks she's told you, then yes. It's possible she doesn't think you know yet, and if that's the case, wait until you hear it some other way, then react as you would." Tori said. "You know, just supportive, given her delicate mental state."

"Got it." The adult said. "Look, I have to go. I'll talk to you later. In the meantime, watch what being with Jade makes you feel. You can use that later."

As the teacher signed off, Tori was left thinking 'Everything's an acting lesson for that man...'

:}

Another chapter out, and we're seeing a couple of things. Cat's starting to want to make her move, while we've seen the first cracks in Jade's story, with Tori not realizing things she was maybe supposed to have known about. We also had a reference to a previous chapter. All in all, building towards something. Hope it's worth it.

Review, cause the sky is blue. Or just review.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: You guessed it, I don't own anything but my original characters, the computer I typed this on, and maybe a few personal effects. But Victorious? That belongs to some guy names Dan, his bakery, and a place called Nickelodeon.

This chapter jumps through a bit of time.

:}

In the days that followed, they settled into a kind of pattern. Jade spent time after school with Tori, often doing homework and talking, up until the time she had to go to work. The also cuddled, but they didn't have the time to do other, date like activities. On Friday, Jade dropped by for about an hour, but apologized. "I thought I'd be able to spend time with you, but the activities I'm doing most of the weekend, it's starting at seven, and I have to go get ready. I'll call you, let you know I'm safe."

"Okay, be safe." Tori called back, then started making plans for her weekend. Her phone was out, calling the first person on her list.

"I was thinking, we should go to the beach." Tori told Beck. "Just the gang. You can bring Priya. Cat lives down there, so we can use her place as a base of operations. That is, assuming she's close enough to the beach. Might be the last great beach weekend we have this summer."

"What about labor Day weekend?" Beck asked.

"Everyone will be heading down the beach for the holiday weekend." Tori whined. "Maybe we could still go, but it'll be crowded. Lets have this weekend first, then do the holiday if it's worth it."

"Good idea." Beck replied. "I just wish we could bring Jade."

"She's gone for the weekend." Tori said. "Someone else's problem."

"Glad to be rid of her?" He asked.

"No." Tori admitted in a small voice. "I just wish this wasn't her being crazy. Then, I'd be able to figure out why I'm drawn to her and maybe we could have some fun."

"Lets just enjoy the weekend, and we can deal with the rest later. Make sure your homework is done, cause that way we can sleep over at Cat's, and have two days at the beach." The Canadian said.

"I know what to do." Tori huffed, still more upset at her feelings for Jade then her friend.

The weekend was fun for the gang, the kind of last fling they needed before summer was over. Also, Tori was able to periodically talk to Jade about what was going on, spending the short time they'd have together on each call gathering information she hoped would be useful. Jade, it seemed, was in Malibu, busking for money at some of the upper class beaches. She'd arranged a street performers license for the weekend, and so was legal. Tori found out another street performer was putting her up for the weekend, and dropping her off late Sunday. "For a cut." Jade emphasized. "Besides, I'm keeping him safe." No one asked about that, just accepting that the girl was probably more then capable of keeping someone safe from the occasional threat.

Sunday night, Tori was waiting by her phone for a text from Jade. Suddenly it was so important that she get that all clear. Once Jade let her know that the she was home, and safe, Tori called just in case it was a trick.

"What?" Jade asked, sounding irritable.

"I just wanted to hear your voice, know you were safe at home." Tori said.

"God, Vega, I can take care of myself. You don't have to baby me." Jade snapped.

"Sorry." Tori said, and hung up. Seconds later, her phone rang. Tori wasn't going to pick it up, except Jade sent her a text telling her to pick up or the goth would be coming over.

"What?" Tori asked as she answered the phone.

"Sorry, I get that you were worried. I was too. The people I was dealing with, all street performers, they were mostly safe." Jade explained. "But we make good targets for all kinds of crime. I'm okay, and I'm not gonna be performing there again for a while."

"Don't you make more money if you have a regular audience?" Tori asked.

"You're also easier to track." Jade said. "I'd rather be an impulse crime. Better chance the cops will catch them."

"That doesn't make me feel any better." Tori said.

"I know." Jade replied. "Look, I love you, and I'll see you tomorrow. We good?"

"We're good." Tori said. "See you tomorrow." She would spend the rest of the evening wondering if she should have returned the 'I love you'?

After that, things settled back into the same routine. They would meet before school and hang out, just like they used to do, except now Jade was acting all couple-y. They would holds hands, touching and cuddling a bit. And they would Kiss, a lot. Then, after school, they'd hang out at Tori's place. Of course, there were instances, where Jade would be chomping at the bit to rip apart some boy, or girl, for looking at Tori the 'Wrong Way.'

"I thought you said you were comfortable being with me?" Tori asked. "You know I'm not planning on leaving you." Inside, the singer felt both a strong sense of connection, and a dark sinking at the betrayal she was in the process of committing against jade. 'It's for her own good. She can't live in this fantasy...'

"I know, babe." Jade said, and Tori was struck for a second. The singer wasn't sure what jade was replying too. "I try, I really do. But, it's hard for me, being secure, knowing you love me. It's hard. I mean, during the darkest parts of the summer, you were all I had, the only thing that kept me from trying to kill myself again. So, yea, I don't share, and I hate that you get to spend your weekend with Cat, and beck, and a whole lot of people who want you. People you may realize are better for you then I am. Honestly, I don't know what I'd do without you." Blue eyes bore straight into Tori's conscience, making her feel even worst. "So I try, I really do. I mean, hay, when's the last time I yelled at one of hem for staring at you?"

"You yelled at Eli just twenty minutes ago." The singer observed.

"Yea, but that was for being a dufus." Jade smiled. "Wait, was he checking you out? And I went easy on him…."

"You made him cry." Tori pointed out. "Real tears. Boy probably wet himself. And that was easy?"

"YES!" Jade said, and Tori felt like the whole school reverberated with that answer. Lacking any words, Toir wrapped her arms around the pale girl.

"Try harder, okay?" Tori asked. "Please. For me." Soft words that seemed to melt the cold goths heart. It was telling of the new normal.

Of course, there was another major difference in Tori's life, beyond the whole Jade issue. During the weekend at the beach, Cat had the chance to talk to Trina, and now the two were thinking of dating. It led to some awkward moments, since Cat was often free later in the day, during the times when Jade was working. So just as Jade was heading out to work, homework complete, Trina would be heading off to pick up Cat for a date. It reminded Tori of a farce, except it was nothing like one.

But the new dynamic quickly settled into a pattern, so much so that Tori almost forgot to go talk to Lane. When she did talk tot he guidance counselor, it wasn't even her doing. Beck had taken the initiative, spoken to Lane about what he knew. However, while Beck had most of what Cat knew, and was able to give the man Cat's brothers analysis, there was stuff left out. Things Tori knew that even Jade's ex seemed painfully unaware of. So, after Beck's initial conversation with Lane, Tori was called into his office to discus things, maybe fill in the blanks. Also, Mister Alexander needed to confirm things, clarify others, and get a good idea of where Tori was in this act.

"So your worried that Jade might be dangerous, and you're dating her?" The hand lotion lover asked, once the basic pleasantries had been disposed of.

"I'm dating her to keep her calm. As long as we don't disrupt her delusion, we're good." Tori tried to explain. "My dad and I are just waiting for the right time for an intervention. Get her the help she needs." She was thinking fast, trying to remember anything she knew that Beck didn't. Anything that could make a difference.

"I'd like to be a part of that." Lane said, both surprising her and drawing her out of her thoughts.

"I thought you didn't like getting involved in our problems?" Was all Tori seemed to be able to ask. Her mind froze on that memory, reminding her that Lane was a different animal.

"Not the silly ones." He replied. "Not the 'I like him but he doesn't like me' chiz, or the other things that you kids think are so important, but really aren't. But this, a major psychotic break, that's something I want to be involved in." He smiled. "But first, I have a couple of questions, then a warning."

"Can't I get the warning first?" Tori asked.

"It's dependent on the question." The counselor said. "So, how are you planning on intervening?"

"My dad, and a few of his cop buddies, will be there when we talk to her about what happened, and help show her what the truth is." Tori said. "We're just waiting for things to be right. One more week or so, and it'll all line up."

"Why are you waiting so long?" Lane asked.

"Because if things work out well, we don't want to cost her the only income she has. She has a sweet gig at Maestro's, and if we have to lock her up for a couple of days, we're hoping to do it over a weekend, and avoid her losing her job." Tori explained. "Also, this weekend, she's got something she's doing to earn extra cash. I think she's a street performer."

"What are your feelings about playing girlfriend to her?" He questioned.

"Lucky me, we're not doing anything sexual. Not even that much date like stuff. We just don't have the time, and she doesn't have the cash." The Latina answered. Her voice was edging towards sad, despite her best efforts

"But are you suffering?" He asked, clarifying his question. "Or maybe just getting by. Are you feeling it's okay cause it's for a friend?" His eyebrow raised. "Or are you starting to get into dating Jade?"

"I don't see how that could make any..." Tori started, only to fade before Lane's unrelenting gaze. "The last of those." She admitted as she looked at the floor, her growing offence now banished. "It's gonna hurt when she goes back to normal, cause I really enjoy her as a girlfriend. And yes, she's starting to slip back into the old Jade, but that's okay. I'm the girlfriend. She insults me, but not nearly as badly as she did back when I was the enemy. She holds back because I'm her girlfriend. And-and even if we did go back to that level of insults, I have her now, as my girlfriend. Just hanging out, it's special somehow. I can't explain it." In that short answer, the singer had gone from sadly looking down, to energized, and back to sad again, with her voice almost fading at the end.

"You don't need to explain anything." The guidance counselor said. "It's called being in a relationship. You just spend time together, and things feel better. Jade probably needed that, after everything she's been through. I'm thinking, maybe, you're going to need help when this is over. But my warning. It's possible, but unlikely, that she might start to realize the truth on her own. That's assuming this was just a survival mechanism, something she needed to get through that rough patch." He watched Tori as he spoke. "I mean, something really needed it to get her through a couple of hellish weeks, maybe even something to live for. If that's true, then it's possible she might wake up one day and realize somethings wrong. Just, the pieces all came together, and since she doesn't need you, then she starts wondering why she's with you, and then, bam, she remembers what really happened, and..." He inhaled, and if felt like he was trying to get back on track. "Now, she could still be very dangerous. We don't know how she's going to react once sahe realizes her entire romance is just a fantasy, a delusion." His eyes spoke of warmth and caring. "I'm just saying, we'll have to be very careful how we approach this. Helping Jade shouldn't put so many people at risk. So, I'll have Derek keep his eyes open, and when the time comes, I'll be ready."

After that meeting, it felt like the rest of the week dragged by, with Tori growing more and more concerned every day. Not about what was going to happen to Jade, but to herself. Beyond whatever revenge Jade might potentially plan, the well deserved retaliation for the perceived betrayal she was about to inflict on the goth, Tori found she didn't want the illusion to end. The Latina felt like she was growing closer to the pale girl then she'd ever been to any of her boyfriends, and that was causing her to dreadfully anticipate the looming separation, and the pain that comes with. Making it worse was constantly seeing Trina and Cat, who's relationship seemed light and easy, just hanging out.

"We're just dating, not putting a label on it or any thing, and seeing where it leads." Trina told her sister. Cat, at school, echoed that sentiment. But the two of them would spend time together, out on dates, making Tori feel queasy.

'I want that.' She'd tell herself. 'I want the easy, happy dating they have. Going out and having fun while the end of summer rushes towards them. I want a girlfriend I can hold and enjoy, not worrying about some time table. And I could, if only Jade were really into me the way she thinks she is.' Tori found this role, Jade's girlfriend, getting harder and harder, because she knew that her growing sadness was edging on depression, and Jade would eventually notice. 'If Jade wonders why I'm so sad, what would I tell her? And then, if I don'tt ell the truth, she might get mad because I was shutting her out. So Happy Tori has to come out and play, at least while Jade's around.'

Tori found it easiest to play her role by forcing herself not to think about what was coming. She only seemed able to do that by focusing on the good that came with being Jade's girlfriend, and only during the times when she needed to seem happy. So around Jade, Tori was smiling and enjoying the company. Only after did the singer feel empty and drained.

Labor day weekend arrived, and with it the crowds at the beaches. Tori and her friends wanted to go, even as Latina was left reeling by the fact that she'd have even less time with her girlfriend then she'd thought. Jade had disappeared imminently after school, saying this was important and she'd keep in touch. "If I fail to text you every four hours, not counting sleep, then call the police." Jade had told her on her way out of school. "Now don't worry, cause everythings gonna be just fine."

Sure enough, Jade would text Tori every couple of hours, letting her know the girl was okay. But Tori, despite not having a lot of homework to ruin the holiday weekend, still wasn't happy to be alone. Her depression had grown past the point where she could enjoy feeling down, and into deeply feeling the loss of her girl. 'God, Jade, why'd you have to be insane?' She thought at the universe once again.

"I just wish Jade was with us." She told Cat, one of her few confidants who knew about what she was really feeling. The gang had decided to go out Friday and have some fun. They were doing karaoke.

"If you want, I can check on her." Cat offered.

"You can?" Tori asked. "Wait, how do you know where she is?"

"She's sleeping on our couch." Cat explained. "Just while she's performing at the beach this weekend, she's staying with me."

"So Jade's sleeping at your place this weekend?" Andre asked. "That means we'll likely see her if we go to the beach tomorrow."

"We should probably go early." Cat added. "The beaches will be crowded."

"Why don't you go grab us some space, and we'll show up when we can." Beck suggested.

"I'll spend the night, and help her grab some premo beach space." Trina announced. Then to her sister. "Don't worry, there will be no hanky panky. Sure, Sam's in Seattle, visiting her mother. But I figure Jade's using her bed, so I'll take the couch."

"Couch is kinda small." Cat said. "Why don't I inflate the air mattress?"

"You have an air mattress?" Tori asked.

"Sometimes the kids sleep over." Cat explained with a shrug.

"However, with Jade there, we'll be forced to be on our best behavior. Sides, I don't think we're ready for the heavy stuff yet." Trina added.

"Okay, you do that." Tori said. "Beck, why don't you and Priya hit Disneyland while we go hit the beach?"

"No." The Canadian said. "Jade says she's okay with me dating a new girl. I want to see how she handles it."

"Okay, but if she goes crazy..." Tori started.

"We run into the water." Beck replied. "Jade won't follow, she has dolphin issues."

"Right." Tori said. "After the intervention, I just have to live on a house boat, surrounded by dolphins."

"Think that might work, cause if things don't go well, I might need to be your roommate again." Andre said. He hoped it sounded like he was joking.

"Lets hope things go well." Tori said too quickly. They all agreed, even as Tori relished the fear. Feeling that felt a lot better then the sad that had been coloring her life black lately. 'And black, of course, reminds me of Jade. Makes that Rolling Stones song ridiculous. Maybe white. Lets see…' singing to herself. ' _I see your red door and I want it painted white_ … Nahh, not the same feeling. God, I'm pathetic...'

The next day, at the beach, the gang were able to have a great time. Trina and Cat were enjoying themselves, no sign of Cat's earlier trauma. "Cat, you okay?" Robbie asked.

"Yea," Cat replied, "I still have issues with Sam, but we've agreed to work things out. Also, my doctor has been working with me on my trust issues."

"Your doctor?" The nerdy boy asked.

"Oh, yea, I've been seeing someone, ever since I stopped seeing Lane." Cat said. "Lane even recommended this guy. He prescribes my special vitamins."

"He has you on medication?" Robbie asked.

"No, they're her special vitamins." Trina said. "I checked them myself. Just a special vitamin mix, some at prescription strength."

"He said I would think clearer with the right vitamin mix." Cat chirped.

"So where's Jade?" Tori asked.

"Over on the street." Cat replied. "Where she can make some money. Said she'd be there most of the day."

"Not sure I approve of this." Andre said. "Couldn't she get s regular job, like I have?"

"Baby, could you word that another way?" Trina asked in a soft voice, even as she smiled at Cat. "You just made Jade sound like a whore."

"Maybe she didn't feel like selling yogurt." Tori suggested.

"Ever notice how hard it is not to be suggestive?" Cat asked back.

"Plus, she has one." Beck added. "She plays piano, and sings, at Maestro's."

"Maybe if I said singing? Or playing her keyboard?" The redhead continued.

"Yea, I forgot." Andre said. He didn't look too happy.

"It's okay." Trina comforted the smaller girl. "Everyone took it the way you meant it."

"Whats wrong?" Tori asked Andre.

"I'd have loved to have her job." The boy said.

"Yea, well, she told me they weren't advertising." Tori explained. "She had to go and audition, and then keep on the manager until he agreed to hire her. She even got dinner included."

"Sounds nice." The musician said.

"Lets just enjoy the sun." Priya said. "No more talking about your crazy friend."

"People are talking about me?" Cat asked. By now she'd been snuggling with Trina, enjoying their growing bond.

"Our other crazy friend." Robbie said.

"Oh, Jade." The redhead agreed.

"See, nothing sexual." Trina teased.

Tori, for her part, just tried to enjoy the weather. 'Maybe I can spend some time with her...' She thought. 'Enjoy what time we have left….'

:}

So….. Thoughts? I have this neat review button, and I'm told it works great. So, um, review.

Also, something finally happened between Trina and Cat. Took long enough.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious or any of it's characters.

This is the last chapter. Sorry?

:}

While spending time in Venice, Tori was able to see Jade perform. The pale girl was on a street near the beach, singing while accompanying herself on a keyboard. Some people stopped to listen, and some of them put money in her case, but most people just walked by. Still, a small crowd gathered to listen, and that was the goths audience.

Tori watched, enjoying the sight of Jade in her blue bikini and boy shorts, while performing under an awning, presumably to avoid burning her pale skin. But to Tori, and anyone who stopped to listen for a while, the performance was far better then just some attractive girl in swimwear warbling out some popular tune. Jade could sing, and each song she belted out drew attention.

After watching a while, Tori stood by as Jade took a short break, and then approached her with a smile on her face. The pale beauty kissed her, a deeper kiss then they'd been doing at school, then suggested they get something when she took her lunch break. Shortly thereafter, the two of them ate lunch together in a small beachfront cafe, where they had a view of, among other things, their friends eating a picnic on the sand. "So, what'd ya think?" Jade asked. She'd been watching the others fighting their battle to keep the sand out of their food, a useful distraction from her growing nervousness about the what Tori thought. Even though it's a necessity, it can be hard to take criticism from those you care about.

"I knew you were a hell of a performer, but wow, you put on one hell of a show. I mean, stage presence, the music, your voice, and damn, you're sexy as hell. Not happy about sharing, having people seeing you all half dressed and sexy, but I get that's the uniform around here. It's part of the act." Tori said, smiling a wide grin at her girl. "It's just, I had no idea you could make money like that?"

"Just a little here and there." Jade blew it off. "I'd make more at Malibu, but as I said earlier, they can be kinda territorial out there. So I'm spending the weekend, most of it, playing here. Then I head home in time to perform at the restaurant, race back here Monday, repeat, hit Maestro's for my Monday evening performance, and then I can go home and rest."

"How much do you expect to make?" Tori asked.

"After expenses?" Jade asked. "Maybe two hundred per day. Maybe more. It's a holiday, and I'm out here working my ass off." She huffed, her large breasts pushing the material of her top noticeably outwards. "I might make more. I just have to wait and seen. But this is my mad money." Her hand snaked across the table to slip around the Latina's. "The cash I'm gonna use to take you out on a date." Her blue eyes sparkled as her smile grew warmer. "So I'm working extra hard."

Tori had absolutely no idea what to say to that. "Be safe." She managed. "For me, okay"

"Sure, I'm playing it as safe as I can." Jade promised. Jade then raked the singers body with her eyes. "Just, I get it, this is warm, beach type weather..." Tori braced for the goth's comment, "but next time, a one piece, okay? Or maybe a water shirt. Don't need anyone burnt."

"Aww, is my girl jealous?" Tori cooed.

"Not as much as I used to be, cause I know your mine." Jade replied. "But I do worry about you. So, you wear sunscreen, okay/ Now lets finish lunch, talk about pleasant things, and just enjoy being around one another before I need to get back out there and perform.."

"I'm down with that." Tori agreed, enjoying the food.

A short while later, Tori was back to their friends, while Jade went back to work. Tori would spend the rest of the weekend with the gang, enjoying the holiday while still worrying about Jade. Tori knew that, if she was gathering that kind of cash, $200 per day, then the pale girl was a target for street crime. However, the singer didn't have to worry, as the weekend passed, and Jade texted her each night, letting the Latina know she was okay. When, after the holiday Monday shift at Maestro's was over, Jade texted to let Tori know she was safely at home, the goth included a picture she'd had taken over the weekend. It showed Jade in her bikini top and shorts singing and playing the keyboard.

Jade had written a caption for the picture. "Something to keep you warm." Despite herself, Tori smiled.

The next week, things started falling back into the normal pace of things, or at least the new normal. Jade was once again hanging out on the Vega couch, and otherwise spending time with Tori. She was also doing most of the heavy lifting as a TA, grading papers, making photocopies, and in general handling the class duties. Tori was left to work with the freshmen on their acting, and help them find characters for the parts they would be playing. Jade had called it playing to their strengths. "As in, I won't be tempted to kill these freaks if I don't deal with them that much." The goth had quipped.

Then there was jade's mantra, repeated over and over as the days slowly bled from one to the next. "I can't wait for Friday." Jade would say. "I'm taking you on a real date. The kind that's been missing from out social lives since I got kicked out of the house." It was sounding dangerously close to being the main focus of the girls life now.

Tori, for her part, found that being that close to Jade was becoming painful. 'She cares, and I love that about her.' Tori thought. 'And soon, one way or another, she'll be back to hating me. I'll just have to comfort myself with the thought that this is for the best.' The girl refused to cry, at least not in public.

But at the same time, as the days slowly crept by, the goth was starting to feel different. While they still cuddled, Jade found it easy to say some of the most cutting things, and did so with an almost instinctive speed. The dark, sarcastic side of Jade had returned with a vengeance. She was often seen playing some horrendous video on her phone, paid for by her job. Everyone was noticing that the dark angel had returned. But this Jade seemed able to live both lives, the dark sarcastic girl who hated so many things, and the supportive girlfriend who loved to cuddle.

"Tori, I've been listening to a lot of Oingo Boingo lately." Jade said that Wednesday as they were sitting in Tori's living room. "It's got me thinking. I-I need to work a few things out. Thing is, I really want this relationship to move forward. And to do that, I need to be totally honest." Jade shifted from holding her girl to looking at her, trying to make eye contact. It made Tori nervous. "I'm not crazy about Beck's girlfriend. She just feels forced to me." Jade continued to shift nervously. "I hope this doesn't cause problems between us, since Beck is my ex, but I don't think Priya is good for him." A look of concentration crossed the girls features. "I just don't trust her."

"So Oingo Boingo got you thinking of Priya?" Tori asked.

"Listen to 'Cinderella Under Cover.' I'm pretty sure that covers this nicely." Jade said. "Maybe 'Who Do You Want to be Today?' Not sure what character she's playing."

"So, about Friday?" Tori asked, suddenly wanting Jade to be thinking of anything but Beck, or his new girlfriend. "Why don't we hang out a bit before we head out. I kinda like the no pressure part of the relationship."

"I suppose…." Jade said, hesitating for a moment. "Yea, lets do that. That way, we can talk, and you and I can reconnect. I… I need to do something tomorrow, so I'm gonna miss our date time anyways." The goth sounded upset, but what caused that feeling wasn't obvious.

"Okay." Tori replied, trying not to feel sad about missing the time together. 'I mean, soon enough, I'm not gonna have her around anyways, so why does this last day feel so… Final.' She hid her pain as she continued. "So, when do you have to leave for work?"

"Not for another half hour." Jade replied. "Wish it gave us time to soak in the jacuzzi."

"Why don't we do that on Friday?" Tori suggested.

"Okay." Jade said, but there was a sad smile on her face. It bothered Tori.

'Hot tubs are one of her favorite things.' Tori worried. 'Does she think I'm planning something? Or is it she's worried, cause she can see right through me. She thinks I'm gonna dump her, and it's really the other way around. But, for her own sanity, this has to be done...' Brown coffee eyes tried to hide it as she begged forgiveness from ocean blue. They held each other, and for once, the warmth didn't make Tori feel better. All it did do was remind her how much she'd come to appreciate being held by Jade.

Thursday, after class, Trina had Cat come over, bringing the kids she was watching. Turns out that Sam was out with a friend, ignoring the kids. "Okay kiddies, this is my parents home, so best behavior." Trina said.

"So, where's Jade?" Cat asked.

"Out doing something." Tori said, trying not to mope. She had last minute preparations to go over. "Why the afternoon date?"

"I've got to work tonight." Trina replied. "My new show is filming. And get this, I play a person! A real person, with lines and everything."

"But you can't act." Tori said.

"But she can over act." Cat corrected. "It's an over the top Spanish soap opera. They need her to exaggerate everything. She's perfect." Cat bounced in excitement. "I think it's a comedy, or a drama, or something."

"It's a comedy." Trina explained. "Their making fun of how over the top soap opera's tend to be."

"So, Jade?" Cat asked, her excited mood shifting so quickly Tori was almost taken off guard.

"Kiddies, this is private, so why don't you head over there, and play. Bathrooms down that hall." Trina told the young'uns.

"She's coming over tomorrow, and we'll do the intervention then." Tori explained, even as her world felt like it was, once again, crashing down. She needed to focus on what was best for Jade, 'No mater how much it hurts.' She pushed through.. "I've even made contingency plans for if we have to lock her up. Hoping it doesn't come to that, but if we do, then I have agreed to substitute for her at her job at Maestro's, at least until she gets out of wherever they lock her up."

"Good, you could use some exposure to the real world." Trina said, and while it was probably meant as caring, it didn't sound like it.

"Whats that supposed to mean?" Tori asked. Inside, as offended as she was, part of her relished the moments that she didn't have to think about Jade. Instead, she got to be mad, and that was a very different emotion.

"Oh, nothing." Trina said, tying to sound airy.

"I think she means 'You'll see.' But I'm not sure." Cat added, even as she kept an eye on the children playing on the far side of the Vega living room.

"Great. I feel guilty enough as is, cause I'm really enjoying dating Jade." Tori lamented, her rage fading far too quickly.

"You haven't been on a real date yet." Cat pointed out.

"But we have." Tori said, energy flooding back to her as she recalled the recent past.. "Last Saturday, at the beach, we had lunch together." She pointed out, then sat back down. "It was nice."

"Oh." Cat said, not wanting t dig too deeply into their date. "Okay then, we'll be there tomorrow, to make sure the intervention goes smoothly. Also, in case it's the last time…." Trina held the petite girl as she shook with a sudden sadness.

"And now I feel even worse." Tori said, and she got up and walked past the kids and up to her room, intent on getting as much work done as she could. She needed to get her mind off Jade, and how badly things had gotten janked up. Down stairs she'd hear the sounds of Trina playing with the children, a reminded that her sister had many tallents.

Friday came, and for some reason, Jade was extra affectionate that day. From the moment they both were at school, she showered Tori with affection, so much so that people commented on it. It was obvious affection, seen in the way she kissed, frequently but always seemingly appropriate... or the soft caresses, some almost absent minded, while others lingered... or how she held Tori's hand during their shared classes. It was almost as if she were trying to make up for abandoning Tori the day before.

There had even been a touch of foreshadowing. "You know I love you." Jade said as she greeted Tori at school. "Whatever else you might think of me, I need you to know, I honestly do love you."

Those words freaked Tori out. Making everything worse was the fact that the goth was extra warm, constantly telling her girlfriend she cared. As the day wore on towards the intervention, Tori found herself feeling worse and worse. "Why can't we make this work?" She asked her sister during a short phone call at lunchtime, taking advantage of Jade needing to deal with a school based issue. "She loves me... I love her. I think, once we get past the awkward 'she's crazy' stage, it'll be all right."

"It won't work because you're using each other." Trina reminder her. "Jade's cray cray. Whats your excuse?"

"It's just, in the short time we've been kinda together, she's been a very good girlfriend. Kinda rough around the edges, but better then any guy I've ever been with. Also, even as she's come back to her old self, you know, dark and insulting, she's been sweet to me." Tori said, her mind racing. "And I just like having her around. Plus, she's fun to cuddle with."

"Which just amps up the suckatude." Trina commented. "If Jade had been sane when this started, assuming it could have started, then you two could have been very happy, if kinda broken, together."

"Broken?" Tori asked.

"I just don't see any other way for the 'Queen of Mother Fucking Darkness' to have been interested in you." Trina said.

"Why does that sound familiar?" Tori asked. "And Hay, we could have gotten over our differences, made a connection, and been together. I'll bet there are dozens of ways."

"But this isn't one of them." Trina reminded her sister. "And now it's time for the illusion to disburse, and reality to once again show it's ugly head."

For almost a second, Tori held onto the feeling, the defiance she was feeling, until she had to admit her sister was right. "You're right." Tori agreed, her face staring down, sadness having stolen her smile. A shot time later, in what was to be their last burst of school time together, she had to force herself to smile when she was around Jade, just to keep up appearances.

Tori didn't relish heading home, even as her sister came by to pick her up. Jade often rode with them, or took her own transportation, but this time was heading home to drop her things off. There, at the Vega residence with everyone present, that things started to break apart. Jade was late.

"Where is she?" David asked. "From what I've seen, she's almost always on time, if not early." He shook his head. "I don't like this."

"Relax, She's only half an hour late." Lane said. "For Jade, that's not a record."

"But in the last three weeks, she'd call if she was going to be late." The police officer pointed out. His friends, all big cops, were at the kitchen table, "pretending" to be playing poker. So far, the school counselor was "pretending" to be abound fifteen dollars up. Not bad for a game betting quarters.

"Things happen." Cat said. She was cuddling with Trina, but the two of them both looked nervous. It was like they knew something was off.

"Maybe I should call." Tori said, eyes locked on the door. Not waiting for an answer, she pulled out her phone and dialed Jade's number. The phone was answered on the second ring.

"Hey babe." Jade said. "Sorry to worry you. It's just, I've been out here, watching your house, trying to push myself to go in. I really want to do this over the phone..." she gave a deep, sad sigh, "but that's just not the way you treat someone you love. I'll be in in a minute." Her voice edged on broken, but held almost enough normal to cover.

"O-okay." Tori said. Then to the room. "She's been outside, watching the house. It sounds like, like she wants to break up with me. I-I don't understand?"

"I suggest we wait and see what happens next." David said. Lane agreed, and went back to playing poker with "The Boys."

"Just remember, this is the usual Friday poker game, and we're just early on account of a shift in schedules." Lane reminded them. They all agreed, even as some wanted to throw their piles of quarters at him.

A moment later the doorbell rang, letting them know that either Jade had arrived, or someone was trying to sell them something. Tori was quick to open the door, almost leaping from her spot on the couch.

Jade walked in, her gaze looking straight forward as she passed the singer, only to turn on her heels and address her girlfriend. "Vega, we have to talk." The goth started, her blue eyes piercing Tori. But then she looked away, just for a moment, to try and gather the thoughts that suddenly abandoned her, and the goth noticed something. "Wait, why are all these people here?"

"My dad's regular Friday poker game had to shift venues on account of a shift in someone's schedule. Lane's been playing with them for a while now. Trina and Cat are dating, and they're here on a date." Tori explained. "If we need privacy, we could use the porch."

Tori could almost feel Lane's glare. Moving to the porch was an unnecessary risk. Being alone with Jade was a risk. Tori may have been in character, trying to get them some privacy, but for the intervention, they needed to be in the living room. They needed to be where all the big cops, all four of them, including Tori's dad, could react if something went wrong. Besides, Cat, as Jade's oldest friend, was a planned part of the intervention.

"No, this is good." Jade said, taking a moment to steady herself. Tori almost felt the room let out a metaphorical breath. "I saw a therapist yesterday." A momentary smile, forced, crossed her face. "I know, kinda shocking, but after everything I've been through, I guess it's long overdue." She paused to refocus, taking another deep breath. "It's the same quack I'd seen while in the hospital, so he'd wanted to see me again anyways. But, I didn't want to see him, cause he made me feel crazy, asking about the pains in my life. Who needs to relive that chiz." She made a gesture, tossing her hand back in a causal act. "Anyways, I'd been feeling, I mean..." She took another deep breath, and gulped down the extra saliva that had gathered in her mouth. "I needed to talk to him about something, get myself straight, so I could be honest with you." She almost forced out, only to hesitate, just a breath. Sad teal eyes met coffee brown. "Tori, I-I don't know how to say this, but I know you've been lying to me."

"I have?" The singer asked. The entire room tensed. "I mean, what now?"

"You didn't have to." Jade continued. The goth looked more defeated then angry, more broken then anything else. To those who knew her, it was alien, something none of them knew how to deal with. So when Jade continued, it was almost a surprise, as her hollow voice cut through the stunned silence. "You should have been honest with me, three weeks ago, when I told you we were dating." Her eyes looked like they were watering, but she kept control, and pushed on. "I know now that I made that shit up, that you weren't there for me in my darkest hour." She sounded so hurt, like a wounded puppy. "I just needed the memory, something positive to help me move forward." She managed to hold in a shiver, like she was on the verge of crying. "I just needed a reason to keep living..."

Jade walked away from Tori, her head lowered, as she found a spot on the couch. "I do love you." She said, not looking up, just feeling her own hurt. "It's just, everything we have right now is based on a lie. Mine, I know, but you played along. I don't know why, but I'm assuming it was like everything else about you, you just wanted to help."

"We thought you could be dangerous." Cat said, breaking the silence from the others in the room. "To Tori, or yourself." Her voice was strong, as gentile as the often ditsy girl could make it. "We didn't want you doing any more damage to yourself then what your parents already did."

"Is that true?" Jade asked Tori, still more hurt then angry, but at least she was looking at Tori..

"Look around you." Tori said. Her voice hinted at compassion, even as something brewed inside her. "I wanted some big cops here if things went bad. Big and skilled enough to restraining you without physically hurting you." The singer felt the whole things rushing out. "I was gonna talk about your delusion, and I didn't need anyone doing things that you, or I, would later regret." The Latina stepped closer, her eyes breaking as she spoke. "Think, baby. Think!" She was pointing at her own head. "Do you, of all people, really believe my dad only plays poker with Lane and big cops?"

"No, I guess not." Jade replied, a smile creeping onto her face. "This was an intervention? How long you been planning it?" The cops had tensed at the smile, but relaxed at the question.

"Almost two weeks." Tori said. "I wonted to make sure you didn't lose that job of yours." The Latina walked over to stand next to where Jade was sitting. "I do care. I could even love you. But there's a lot of damage that needs to be dealt with." She took another tentative step forward. "Any chance you'll be seeing that therapist again?" There was a lot of hope in her voice.

"And again and again." Jade replied. "Social services has been on my ass to see someone, and this guy, the one I'd previously seen, they said he's the best" She reached for Tori, but pulled her hand back. "And he said I should straighten things out with you, as soon as possible." Her voice was weak, but clearly heard.

"So where does that leave us?" Tori asked, even as she stood her ground.

"Don't know." Jade replied. The pale girl looked hurt, worried, like she was expecting to be broken all over again.

"Jade, you're telling us that you are totally aware that you'd been under a delusion, and that your not dating Tori?" Lane asked.

"Yea." Jade admitted. "There were a lot of things happening that didn't add up, not to what I remembered. Things that just wouldn't, couldn't, be the way I had convinced myself they were. The biggie was Tori's parents." Her head nodded towards David. "They were never in denial. I just told myself so I had an explanation for why they didn't know about Tori and me. Only, when they did hear, it was more supportive, less judgmental. Not the action of people in denial."

"And how did you feel when you realized this was all a lie?" Lane asked.

"Hurt, angry." She admitted. "My shrink and me, we talked about it for over an hour yesterday. Hell, we talked until I didn't feel so mad any more. I… I could have hurt someone, and he knew that, so he talked to me, made me talk to him, until I wasn't mad anymore. I even had to take a sick day from work, cause I was so mad… Just, I realized I was mad at myself."

"The illusion of a happy summer fling shattered, and yet, you say you still love her." Lane continued. "Still, even now, after the delusion is gone, you claim you care about Tori. That you love her. Is that true?"

"I think I kinda had feelings for her for the longest time..." Jade admitted. "So when I spent actual time with her, even though she didn't always act like I expected her to, I just, I built on those feelings." Jade seemed to be mentally reaching for something. "I meant it when I said I love her. Not the idea of her, or the ideal of her, but the dorky girl who was there for me, despite me being more then capable of doing some serious hurt to her and the people she cares about." Jade looked almost happy, then the smile broke again, and she faced the floor. "Yes, I love her."

"Okay then, the way I see it, This was never a power relationship, was it? Never a relationship where one person dominates the other." Lane started. "Plus, you both seem to be interested, sooo," there was a dramatic pause. "I'd say, start over, and let yourself see what you have." He suggested. "Just make sure your therapist, and me, know whats going on, every step of the way. That way we can help you discern if those are real feelings, or just something you needed to get through a tough situation."

"Of course," One of the large cops said, "The goth chick said she already had feelings for Tori here. I'm thinking those feelings were already fairly developed, and that's why she chose her instead of holding out for her ex, or some other pretty boy." He nodded his head. "Yea, I bet that's what happened."

"Probably the first bet you'd win today." One of the others mumbled.

"Could we not?" Tori asked the cops. "Sorry, but I've already had an evening where a random group of strangers, at a vets office of all places, were discussing the intricacies of my dating life. Now, I think we need to deal with this ourselves. But thanks for coming by and backing me up."

A chorus of "No problems" and "Any time" echoed from the table.

"So, Lane, ever been to Reno?" One of the officers asked.

"Yea, but they have my picture on the wall now, so I'm not allowed to play." The counselor said. "Except in tournaments."

"So what do we do now?" Jade asked, shifting on the couch. She felt very nervous, unprotected and vulnerable.

"We have a date for tonight, right?' Tori asked, stepping forward and offering the other girl her hand.

"I chose a place where we could make reservations on short notice." Jade admitted. "I wasn't sure if we'd be together or not." She eyes Tori's offered hand, but made no move to take it.

"Sounds perfect for a first date." Tori said, smiling. "But one thing. I don't think I'll last a hundred days without wanting more."

"Then lets not worry about that, and focus on building a relationship." Jade said. "A real one. Then, maybe, when things feel right, we just let ourselves do what we feel comfortable with." She reached out to take her girls hand, to start over. They inched closer, each anticipating the touch.

"OH MY CHIZ!" Cat screamed, making all the people there jump.

"What is it?' Tori asked, looking across to the couch where her sister was still holding Cat. Jade had jumped back, and was now edging closer to stand in front of Tori, even as the cops had stood partially up.

"You mean Trina and I had girly sex first?" Cat asked. The officers, and Jade, relaxed

"I could have lived without knowing that." Tori groaned.

"Me too, Vega." Jade agreed, leaning into Tori. "Me too."

"Whats this about girly sex?" David asked from his place at the table.

Jade smiled at her date. "I'll make the reservations. Wanna play a game while we wait?"

"Whatever did you have in mind?" Tori asked, soundings very sexy.

"I was thinking cards, but maybe something more physical?" Jade asked. "You any good at basketball?"

"Good choice." David said from his place at the table, even as he stood up to deal with another problem. "Um, guys, deal me out. I have a daughter to talk to." He glared at his eldest.

After Jade made a call, her and Tori headed out, not wanting to hear David's lecture before it was their turn. They would play air hockey at the baby golf place before dinner. That way, neither would be all sweaty. "So what do we tell Beck?" Tori asked.

"We don't tell him anything." Jade replied. "You tell the others, one by one, as they ask. But no need for the school to think any differently. Just, lets date, and have some fun."

"And Priya?" Tori asked.

"Oh, I still don't trust her, but for now, with everything I'm dealing with, I'm gonna let her be Beck's problem." Jade said. "As I said, lets just date, have us some fun, and let things happen at their own pace."

It was the start of something beautiful.

:}

I know, not the ending we were expecting, save those of you who were. No real fireworks, no fighting, no police dragging a deranged jade out of the house, blood dripping from her scissors. Jade came back to herself, and while mad, was able to see she was the one who'd done this, so she was the one to blame. Still, I gave you a less then realistic, but plausible Jori outcome.

Sorry about Priya, but I thought she'd have more of a roll, when she just turned out to feel fake to jade. I'm wishing my muse would have filled that one in for me.

So, this was the end. Comments are welcome. So are good brownie recipes. Just saying. Thanks to everyone who reviewed.


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